Public Sector Pension Investment Board Boosts Stock Holdings in Heritage Financial Corporation $HFWA

Key Points

• The Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its stake in Heritage Financial Corporation by 26.7%, owning approximately 0.32% of the company worth $2.63 million after acquiring an additional 22,718 shares.
• Heritage Financial announced a quarterly dividend of $0.24 per share to be paid on August 20th, providing a 4.1% dividend yield.
• Wall Street analysts have downgraded Heritage Financial's rating, with most recent target prices dropping to as low as $26.00 from prior highs, as the stock currently holds a consensus rating of "Hold".

Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its stake in shares of Heritage Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:HFWA - Free Report) by 26.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 107,826 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 22,718 shares during the quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board owned approximately 0.32% of Heritage Financial worth $2,623,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of HFWA. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted 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 worth $36,033,000 after buying an additional 1,471,640 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 545,348 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Heritage Financial by 112.5% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 369,429 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $9,051,000 after buying an additional 195,541 shares during the period. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. acquired a new position in Heritage Financial during the 4th quarter worth about $3,755,000. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Heritage Financial during the 1st quarter worth about $2,491,000. 78.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Heritage Financial Stock Down 1.2%

Heritage Financial stock traded down $0.29 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $24.11. The stock had a trading volume of 164,639 shares, compared to its average volume of 157,183. Heritage Financial Corporation has a 12 month low of $19.84 and a 12 month high of $27.58. The company has a market capitalization of $818.53 million, a P/E ratio of 16.86 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $23.87 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $23.57. 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 issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.53 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 analyst estimates of $63.54 million. As a group, equities analysts expect that Heritage Financial Corporation will post 2.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Heritage Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 6th were given 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 presently 67.13%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HFWA has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on Heritage Financial from $27.00 to $26.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Heritage Financial from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 26th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on Heritage Financial from $34.00 to $31.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Heritage Financial has a consensus 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.