Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 695,200 shares, a growth of 20.6% from the January 31st total of 576,400 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 191,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.6 days. Approximately 2.1% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Heritage Financial Price Performance

HFWA stock opened at $23.91 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $812.72 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.28 and a beta of 0.53. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $24.57 and a 200-day moving average price of $23.93. Heritage Financial has a 52-week low of $16.55 and a 52-week high of $27.58.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.51 earnings per share (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%. Equities research analysts forecast that Heritage Financial will post 2.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Heritage Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 6th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.02%. This is an increase from Heritage Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. Heritage Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 77.42%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insider Transactions at Heritage Financial

In other Heritage Financial news, Director Frederick B. Rivera sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.43, for a total transaction of $101,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 3,844 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $97,752.92. This represents a 50.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Heritage Financial

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Heritage Financial by 794.1% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,064 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 945 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. raised its position in Heritage Financial by 519.0% in the 4th quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 3,553 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $87,000 after buying an additional 2,979 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lifted its stake in Heritage Financial by 475.6% during the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 3,989 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $98,000 after acquiring an additional 3,296 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 5,796 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $126,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in shares of Heritage Financial in the fourth quarter worth approximately $157,000. 78.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.