Jeffrey J. Deuel Sells 7,033 Shares of Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA) Stock

Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA) CEO Jeffrey J. Deuel sold 7,033 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.66, for a total transaction of $166,400.78. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 70,906 shares in the company, valued at $1,677,635.96. The trade was a 9.02 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Heritage Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ HFWA opened at $23.67 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $24.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $24.01. The stock has a market cap of $804.57 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.09 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. Heritage Financial Co. has a 12 month low of $16.55 and a 12 month 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 EPS for the quarter, beating 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, analysts predict that Heritage Financial Co. will post 2.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Heritage Financial Increases Dividend

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of HFWA. Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 71.4% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,741,058 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,903,000 after purchasing an additional 725,257 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Heritage Financial by 112.5% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 369,429 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,051,000 after buying an additional 195,541 shares in the last quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Heritage Financial in the fourth quarter worth about $3,755,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Heritage Financial by 357.0% during the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 143,913 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,526,000 after acquiring an additional 112,419 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Heritage Financial by 83.3% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 225,948 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,536,000 after acquiring an additional 102,665 shares during the period. 78.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.