Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $21.21, but opened at $20.61. Heritage Financial shares last traded at $21.54, with a volume of 23,534 shares traded.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
Separately, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Heritage Financial from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on HFWA
Heritage Financial Trading Up 0.5 %
The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.84. The business's 50 day moving average price is $23.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $24.14. The company has a market cap of $742.70 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.62 and a beta of 0.47.
Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.06. Heritage Financial had a net margin of 13.64% and a return on equity of 7.17%. On average, research analysts forecast that Heritage Financial Co. will post 2.09 EPS for the current year.
Heritage Financial Increases Dividend
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 6th were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This is a positive change from Heritage Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 6th. Heritage Financial's dividend payout ratio is currently 77.42%.
Insider Buying and Selling at Heritage Financial
In other news, CEO Jeffrey J. Deuel sold 7,033 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.66, for a total value of $166,400.78. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 70,906 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,677,635.96. The trade was a 9.02 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Frederick B. Rivera sold 4,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.43, for a total value of $101,720.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 3,844 shares of the company's stock, valued at $97,752.92. This represents a 50.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 15,311 shares of company stock valued at $369,193. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.
Hedge Funds Weigh In On Heritage Financial
Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Heritage Financial by 794.1% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,064 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 945 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Heritage Financial by 45.3% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,972 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $72,000 after acquiring an additional 927 shares during the period. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. increased its position in Heritage Financial by 519.0% in the fourth quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 3,553 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $87,000 after purchasing an additional 2,979 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio raised its holdings in 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 worth $98,000 after purchasing an additional 3,296 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in Heritage Financial during the 4th quarter valued at about $157,000. 78.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
About Heritage Financial
(
Get Free Report)
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.
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