Great Lakes Advisors LLC Sells 31,207 Shares of Heritage Financial Corporation $HFWA

Key Points

• Great Lakes Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in Heritage Financial Corporation by 14.2%, now owning 189,044 shares worth approximately $4.6 million.
• Heritage Financial's stock closed down 0.6% recently and has a market capitalization of $844.34 million, with an earnings per share of $0.53 beating estimates.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.24, representing a 3.9% dividend yield and a payout ratio of 67.13%.

Great Lakes Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in Heritage Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:HFWA - Free Report) by 14.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 189,044 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 31,207 shares during the period. Great Lakes Advisors LLC owned about 0.55% of Heritage Financial worth $4,599,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Stifel Financial Corp acquired a new position in shares of Heritage Financial in the fourth quarter worth approximately $205,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Heritage Financial by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 433,678 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $10,625,000 after acquiring an additional 6,201 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in shares of Heritage Financial by 45.5% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 147,887 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,623,000 after purchasing an additional 46,260 shares during the last quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC increased its position in shares of Heritage Financial by 96.9% during the 4th quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 23,129 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $567,000 after purchasing an additional 11,385 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG grew its stake in shares of Heritage Financial by 60.1% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 29,871 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $732,000 after acquiring an additional 11,210 shares during the period. 78.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Heritage Financial Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of HFWA stock traded down $0.37 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $24.52. The company's stock had a trading volume of 114,745 shares, compared to its average volume of 164,746. The stock has a market capitalization of $832.45 million, a P/E ratio of 17.15 and a beta of 0.56. Heritage Financial Corporation has a one year low of $19.84 and a one year high of $27.58. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $24.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $23.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.03. Heritage Financial had a return on equity of 7.34% and a net margin of 15.22%.The business had revenue of $56.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $63.54 million. Equities research analysts expect that Heritage Financial Corporation will post 2.09 EPS for the current year.

Heritage Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 6th were paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 6th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.9%. Heritage Financial's payout ratio is currently 67.13%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Wall Street Zen downgraded Heritage Financial from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $27.67.

About Heritage Financial

Heritage Financial Corporation operates as the bank holding company for Heritage Bank that provides various financial services to small and medium sized businesses and individuals in the United States. It accepts various deposit products, such as noninterest demand deposits, interest bearing demand deposits, money market accounts, savings accounts, personal checking accounts, and certificates of deposit.