Vanguard Group Inc. Has $41.76 Million Holdings in Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA)

Vanguard Group Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA - Free Report) by 3.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,560,289 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 85,967 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 7.34% of Heritage Financial worth $41,758,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 185.5% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 64,471 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,052,000 after acquiring an additional 41,887 shares during the period. Comerica Bank bought a new stake in Heritage Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at about $339,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in Heritage Financial by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 304,905 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $4,973,000 after purchasing an additional 20,714 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group grew its position in Heritage Financial by 34.7% in the 3rd quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 535,820 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $8,739,000 after purchasing an additional 137,915 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. raised its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 7.5% during the third quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 54,787 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $894,000 after buying an additional 3,832 shares during the last quarter. 78.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on HFWA. TheStreet raised Heritage Financial from a "c+" rating to a "b-" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 12th. Stephens restated an "equal weight" rating and set a $22.00 price objective on shares of Heritage Financial in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. DA Davidson decreased their target price on shares of Heritage Financial from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 26th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Heritage Financial from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of Heritage Financial from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 26th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Heritage Financial currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $22.25.

Heritage Financial Price Performance

NASDAQ:HFWA traded down $0.99 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $17.33. 162,019 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 188,589. Heritage Financial Co. has a 1-year low of $14.85 and a 1-year high of $22.55. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $600.48 million, a PE ratio of 9.84 and a beta of 0.54. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $18.62 and a 200 day moving average price of $18.63.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.47. Heritage Financial had a net margin of 20.37% and a return on equity of 8.66%. The company had revenue of $50.72 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $62.00 million. Research analysts expect that Heritage Financial Co. will post 1.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Heritage Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 22nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 8th were issued a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 7th. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.31%. This is a boost from Heritage Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Heritage Financial's dividend payout ratio is currently 52.57%.

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.