Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA) CFO Sells $80,677.80 in Stock

Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA) CFO Donald Hinson sold 3,420 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.59, for a total value of $80,677.80. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 42,087 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $992,832.33. The trade was a 7.52 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Heritage Financial Price Performance

NASDAQ:HFWA opened at $23.67 on Thursday. Heritage Financial Co. has a one year low of $16.55 and a one year high of $27.58. 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 stock has a market cap of $804.57 million, a PE ratio of 19.09 and a beta of 0.53. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $24.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $24.01.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) last posted 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%. Equities research analysts expect that Heritage Financial Co. will post 2.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Heritage Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 6th were issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.06%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 6th. This is a boost from Heritage Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. Heritage Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 77.42%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Heritage Financial

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its position 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 worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 945 shares during the period. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $87,000 after purchasing an additional 2,979 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lifted 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 purchasing an additional 3,296 shares during the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in shares of Heritage Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $157,000. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in shares of Heritage Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $166,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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