Russell Investments Group Ltd. Grows Stake in Heritage Financial Corporation $HFWA

Key Points

• Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in Heritage Financial Corporation by 21.0%, acquiring an additional 30,238 shares during the first quarter, bringing its total holdings to 174,151 shares worth approximately $4.24 million.
• Heritage Financial's stock has seen a 5.8% increase recently, with current trading at $24.40, while it faces varying ratings from analysts, including a downgrade from Keefe, Bruyette & Woods.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.24 per share, yielding 3.9%, with a payout ratio of 67.13%.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Heritage Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:HFWA - Free Report) by 21.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 174,151 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 30,238 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned 0.51% of Heritage Financial worth $4,237,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in Heritage Financial by 45.5% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 147,887 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,623,000 after acquiring an additional 46,260 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Heritage Financial by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 193,820 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $4,716,000 after acquiring an additional 4,101 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG raised its position in Heritage Financial by 60.1% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 29,871 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $732,000 after purchasing an additional 11,210 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in Heritage Financial during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $844,000. Finally, Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Heritage Financial during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,505,000. 78.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on HFWA shares. Wall Street Zen lowered Heritage Financial from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on Heritage Financial from $27.00 to $26.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their target price on Heritage Financial from $34.00 to $31.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Heritage Financial has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $27.67.

Heritage Financial Stock Up 1.9%

HFWA traded up $0.45 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $24.56. 186,842 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 216,993. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $23.87 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $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 Corporation has a 12-month low of $19.84 and a 12-month high of $27.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $833.89 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.17 and a beta of 0.57.

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

Heritage Financial Announces Dividend

The company 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. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 6th. Heritage Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 67.13%.

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.