Great Lakes Advisors LLC Lowers Stock Position in 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 lowered its position in Heritage Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:HFWA - Free Report) by 14.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm 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.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of HFWA. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Heritage Financial by 15,727.7% in the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,480,997 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $36,033,000 after buying an additional 1,471,640 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in Heritage Financial by 24.7% in the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,752,114 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $66,959,000 after purchasing an additional 545,348 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Heritage Financial in the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,491,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Heritage Financial by 3,435.9% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 72,309 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $17,590,000 after purchasing an additional 70,264 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Heritage Financial in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,505,000. 78.30% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of 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 given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $27.67.

Heritage Financial Trading Down 1.1%

Heritage Financial stock traded down $0.28 during trading on Monday, hitting $24.24. The company had a trading volume of 32,317 shares, compared to its average volume of 213,118. Heritage Financial Corporation has a 1-year low of $19.84 and a 1-year high of $27.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $24.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $23.59. The stock has a market cap of $823.08 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.99 and a beta of 0.56.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $56.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $63.54 million. Heritage Financial had a net margin of 15.22% and a return on equity of 7.34%. As a group, analysts expect that Heritage Financial Corporation will post 2.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Heritage Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 6th were issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 6th. Heritage Financial's payout ratio is currently 67.13%.

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.