Trexquant Investment LP Raises Stock Position in Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA)

Trexquant Investment LP increased its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA - Free Report) by 187.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 67,559 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 44,023 shares during the quarter. Trexquant Investment LP owned about 0.20% of Heritage Financial worth $1,655,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of HFWA. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 90.7% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 34,672 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $755,000 after purchasing an additional 16,489 shares during the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC boosted its stake in Heritage Financial by 35.6% during the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 16,171 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $352,000 after buying an additional 4,242 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Heritage Financial by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,594,963 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $34,722,000 after buying an additional 4,012 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC grew its holdings in Heritage Financial by 46.9% in the 3rd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 65,088 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,417,000 after buying an additional 20,792 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd increased its stake in shares of Heritage Financial by 73.8% in the 3rd quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 35,933 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $782,000 after acquiring an additional 15,259 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.30% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Heritage Financial

In other Heritage Financial news, CEO Jeffrey J. Deuel sold 7,033 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.66, for a total value of $166,400.78. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 70,906 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,677,635.96. This trade represents a 9.02 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Frederick B. Rivera sold 4,000 shares of Heritage Financial stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.43, for a total value of $101,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,844 shares of the company's stock, valued at $97,752.92. The trade was a 50.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 15,311 shares of company stock valued at $369,193 in the last three months. 1.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Heritage Financial Trading Up 2.8 %

NASDAQ HFWA traded up $0.59 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $21.80. The company had a trading volume of 39,416 shares, compared to its average volume of 207,142. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $740.83 million, a P/E ratio of 17.56 and a beta of 0.47. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $23.71 and a 200 day moving average of $24.14. Heritage Financial Co. has a 1-year low of $16.55 and a 1-year high of $27.58.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.06. Heritage Financial had a net margin of 13.64% and a return on equity of 7.17%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Heritage Financial Co. will post 2.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Heritage Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 6th were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.40%. This is a boost from Heritage Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 6th. Heritage Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 77.42%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Heritage Financial from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, January 27th.

Heritage Financial Company 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.