Royce & Associates LP Sells 19,374 Shares of Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA)

Royce & Associates LP cut its stake in Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA) by 6.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 270,169 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 19,374 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP’s holdings in Heritage Financial were worth $5,882,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of HFWA. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Heritage Financial by 4.3% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,934,852 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,884,000 after buying an additional 80,044 shares during the period. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC acquired a new position in Heritage Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $951,000. Boston Partners lifted its position in shares of Heritage Financial by 70.5% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 112,443 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,180,000 after acquiring an additional 46,511 shares during the period. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Heritage Financial during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $557,000. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Heritage Financial during the second quarter valued at approximately $410,000. 78.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Heritage Financial Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:HFWA opened at $26.16 on Monday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $22.69 and its 200-day moving average is $20.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82. Heritage Financial Co. has a 52 week low of $16.55 and a 52 week high of $27.55. The company has a market capitalization of $893.36 million, a PE ratio of 24.22 and a beta of 0.52.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $81.65 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.17 million. Heritage Financial had a net margin of 12.27% and a return on equity of 7.01%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.51 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Heritage Financial Co. will post 1.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Heritage Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 6th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.52%. Heritage Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 85.19%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HFWA has been the subject of several research reports. Stephens raised their target price on Heritage Financial from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Heritage Financial from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Heritage Financial from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Heritage Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $25.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Heritage Financial

In other news, EVP Tony Chalfant sold 2,975 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.50, for a total value of $78,837.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 20,119 shares in the company, valued at approximately $533,153.50. This trade represents a 12.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

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.