Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) Shares Gap Down – Here’s What Happened

Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA)’s share price gapped down prior to trading on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $23.77, but opened at $23.01. Heritage Financial shares last traded at $23.93, with a volume of 38,063 shares traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com raised Heritage Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th.

Heritage Financial Trading Down 0.8 %

The firm has a market cap of $802.53 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.04 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $24.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $24.01. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, topping 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, 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 6th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. 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. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.07%. Heritage Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.42%.

Insider Activity at Heritage Financial

In related news, CFO Donald Hinson sold 3,420 shares of Heritage Financial stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.59, for a total transaction 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 approximately $992,832.33. This trade represents a 7.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jeffrey J. Deuel sold 7,033 shares of Heritage Financial stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.66, for a total value of $166,400.78. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 70,906 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,677,635.96. The trade was a 9.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 15,311 shares of company stock valued at $369,193. Insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Heritage Financial

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Heritage Financial by 0.4% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 123,283 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,684,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Heritage Financial by 794.1% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,064 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 945 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Heritage Financial by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 29,901 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $733,000 after purchasing an additional 1,914 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Heritage Financial by 10.2% in the 4th quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 20,710 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $507,000 after purchasing an additional 1,917 shares during the period. Finally, Keybank National Association OH grew its stake in shares of Heritage Financial by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 49,841 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,221,000 after purchasing an additional 2,477 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.30% 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.