Penn Capital Management Company LLC Makes New $631,000 Investment in Heritage Financial Corporation $HFWA

Key Points

• Penn Capital Management Company LLC acquired a new stake in Heritage Financial Corporation, purchasing 25,948 shares worth approximately $631,000 during the first quarter.
• Several institutional investors have also increased their positions in Heritage Financial, with 78.30% of the stock now owned by these investors.
• Wall Street analysts have recently lowered their price targets for Heritage Financial, with the current average target price set at $27.67 and a prevailing rating of "Hold."

Penn Capital Management Company LLC acquired a new position in Heritage Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:HFWA - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 25,948 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $631,000. Penn Capital Management Company LLC owned approximately 0.08% of Heritage Financial at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Heritage Financial by 15,727.7% during 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 acquiring an additional 1,471,640 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC raised its position in shares of Heritage Financial by 24.7% during the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,752,114 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $66,959,000 after acquiring an additional 545,348 shares in the last quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Heritage Financial during the 4th quarter worth about $3,755,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Heritage Financial during the first quarter worth approximately $2,491,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Heritage Financial by 3,435.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 72,309 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $17,590,000 after buying an additional 70,264 shares during the period. 78.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Heritage Financial Stock Up 0.3%

NASDAQ HFWA traded up $0.08 on Friday, reaching $24.61. The company had a trading volume of 28,975 shares, compared to its average volume of 214,747. The firm has a market capitalization of $835.58 million, a PE ratio of 17.21 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $23.99 and a 200-day moving average of $23.58. Heritage Financial Corporation has a 1 year low of $19.84 and a 1 year high of $27.58.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $56.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $63.54 million. Heritage Financial had a return on equity of 7.34% and a net margin of 15.22%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Heritage Financial Corporation will post 2.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Heritage Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 6th were given a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 6th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.9%. Heritage Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 67.13%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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 issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Heritage Financial presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $27.67.

Heritage Financial Profile

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.