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 stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.59, for a total transaction of $80,677.80. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 42,087 shares in the company, valued at approximately $992,832.33. This represents a 7.52 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Heritage Financial Trading Down 0.8 %

HFWA stock traded down $0.19 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $23.61. The stock had a trading volume of 367,149 shares, compared to its average volume of 182,413. The firm has a market cap of $802.53 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.04 and a beta of 0.53. Heritage Financial Co. has a twelve month low of $16.55 and a twelve month high of $27.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $24.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $24.01.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) last issued its quarterly 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 net margin of 13.64% and a return on equity of 7.17%. As a group, research analysts expect that Heritage Financial Co. will post 2.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Heritage Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.07%. Heritage Financial’s payout ratio is presently 77.42%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in 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 valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 945 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Heritage Financial by 519.0% during 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 period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its stake 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 valued at $98,000 after acquiring an additional 3,296 shares during the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new stake in shares of Heritage Financial in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $157,000. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in Heritage Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $166,000. 78.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.