Frederick Rivera Sells 1,300 Shares of Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) Stock

Key Points

• Director Frederick Rivera sold 1,300 Heritage Financial shares at an average price of $28.57, generating $37,141 and reducing his position by 18.08% to 5,890 shares.
• Heritage Financial reported quarterly EPS of $0.57, exceeding the $0.44 consensus estimate, while revenue came in below expectations at $84.12 million. The company also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.25, implying a 3.5% yield.
• Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $32.50, above the stock’s recent $28.57 price; institutional investors own 78.3% of the shares.

Heritage Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:HFWA - Get Free Report) Director Frederick Rivera sold 1,300 shares of Heritage Financial stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.57, for a total transaction of $37,141.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 5,890 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $168,277.30. The trade was a 18.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Heritage Financial Price Performance

Shares of HFWA stock traded up $0.03 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $28.57. The company's stock had a trading volume of 209,273 shares, compared to its average volume of 321,289. The business has a fifty day moving average of $29.47 and a 200-day moving average of $27.93. The stock has a market cap of $1.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.61 and a beta of 0.48. Heritage Financial Corporation has a twelve month low of $21.32 and a twelve month high of $31.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $84.12 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.30 million. Heritage Financial had a return on equity of 8.78% and a net margin of 20.44%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Heritage Financial Corporation will post 2.37 EPS for the current year.

Heritage Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 5th were given a $0.25 dividend. This is an increase from Heritage Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 5th. Heritage Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 47.62%.

Institutional Trading of Heritage Financial

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HFWA. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Heritage Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at about $172,125,000. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,213,473 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $83,550,000 after purchasing an additional 106,308 shares during the period. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. acquired a new stake in Heritage Financial during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $20,408,000. Algebris UK Ltd. acquired a new stake in Heritage Financial during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $13,860,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in Heritage Financial in the second quarter valued at approximately $11,817,000. 78.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HFWA has been the subject of several analyst reports. Zacks Research raised shares of Heritage Financial from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Stephens lifted their price target on shares of Heritage Financial from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Heritage Financial from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Heritage Financial in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of Heritage Financial from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $32.50.

About Heritage Financial

Heritage Financial Corporation NASDAQ: HFWA is a bank holding company headquartered in Olympia, Washington. Through its principal subsidiary, Heritage Bank, the company provides a range of banking and financial services to businesses, individuals, and organizations in communities across Washington and Oregon.

Heritage Bank's offerings include commercial and industrial lending, commercial real estate and construction loans, residential real estate financing, consumer loans, deposit accounts, cash-management services, online and mobile banking, and other treasury-management solutions.

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