Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA) CFO Donald Hinson Sells 3,420 Shares

Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA) CFO Donald Hinson sold 3,420 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.59, for a total value of $80,677.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 42,087 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $992,832.33. This represents a 7.52 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Heritage Financial Price Performance

NASDAQ HFWA traded down $0.19 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $23.61. 367,149 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 182,413. Heritage Financial Co. has a 1-year low of $16.55 and a 1-year high of $27.58. The company has a market cap of $802.53 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.04 and a beta of 0.53. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $24.47 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $24.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.84.

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

Heritage Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 6th were issued a $0.24 dividend. This is a positive change from Heritage Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 6th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.07%. Heritage Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.42%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Heritage Financial

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in HFWA. Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Heritage Financial by 794.1% during the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of 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 valued at $87,000 after acquiring an additional 2,979 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio boosted its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 475.6% in 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 acquiring an additional 3,296 shares in the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in Heritage Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $157,000. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new stake in Heritage Financial during the 4th quarter valued at $166,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com raised Heritage Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research 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.