Trexquant Investment LP Acquires 49,371 Shares of Heritage Financial Corporation $HFWA

Key Points

• Trexquant Investment LP has increased its stake in Heritage Financial Corporation by 73.1% in Q1, now owning approximately 116,930 shares valued at $2.8 million.
• Heritage Financial Corporation reported an EPS of $0.53 for the last quarter, exceeding estimates, but its revenue was below expectations at $56.5 million.
• The company recently paid a quarterly dividend of $0.24 per share, representing an annualized yield of 4.0%.

Trexquant Investment LP lifted its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:HFWA - Free Report) by 73.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 116,930 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 49,371 shares during the period. Trexquant Investment LP owned about 0.34% of Heritage Financial worth $2,845,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HFWA. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Heritage Financial by 45.3% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,972 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $72,000 after buying an additional 927 shares during the period. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Heritage Financial by 519.0% in the 4th quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 3,553 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $87,000 after acquiring an additional 2,979 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio boosted its stake in shares of Heritage Financial by 475.6% during the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 3,989 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $98,000 after buying an additional 3,296 shares during the period. CWM LLC lifted its stake in shares of Heritage Financial by 14.8% in the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,042 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $98,000 after purchasing an additional 520 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zions Bancorporation National Association UT bought a new stake in Heritage Financial in the 1st quarter valued at $167,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.30% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Wall Street Zen downgraded Heritage Financial from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, July 26th. One equities research 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.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $27.67.

Heritage Financial Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ HFWA traded up $0.12 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $24.92. 100,134 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 213,904. The company has a market cap of $846.14 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.43 and a beta of 0.56. Heritage Financial Corporation has a 12-month low of $19.84 and a 12-month high of $27.58. The business's fifty day moving average price is $24.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price 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 (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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.03. Heritage Financial had a net margin of 15.22% and a return on equity of 7.34%. The firm had revenue of $56.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $63.54 million. As a group, research analysts forecast that Heritage Financial Corporation will post 2.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Heritage Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 6th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date 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.