Jennison Associates LLC Purchases 725,257 Shares of Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA)

Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA) by 71.4% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,741,058 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 725,257 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC owned about 0.05% of Heritage Financial worth $37,903,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in HFWA. Boston Partners raised its stake 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 valued at $2,180,000 after purchasing an additional 46,511 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Heritage Financial by 4.3% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,934,852 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,884,000 after buying an additional 80,044 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 43.7% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,975 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 601 shares in the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Heritage Financial during the second quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Heritage Financial in the second quarter valued at about $951,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.30% of the company’s stock.

Heritage Financial Stock Performance

Shares of HFWA opened at $25.79 on Friday. Heritage Financial Co. has a 52 week low of $16.55 and a 52 week high of $27.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $23.02 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $20.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $880.73 million, a P/E ratio of 23.88 and a beta of 0.52.

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

Heritage Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 6th were issued a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 6th. Heritage Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 85.19%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insider Transactions at Heritage Financial

In other Heritage Financial news, EVP Tony Chalfant sold 2,975 shares of Heritage Financial stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.50, for a total transaction of $78,837.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 20,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $533,153.50. The trade was a 12.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 1.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.