Nwam LLC Has $1.31 Million Holdings in Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA)

Nwam LLC reduced its stake in Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA) by 2.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 53,477 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,375 shares during the period. Nwam LLC owned about 0.16% of Heritage Financial worth $1,310,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. New York State Teachers Retirement System boosted its position in 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 worth $126,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Heritage Financial by 0.4% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 123,283 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,684,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Heritage Financial by 11.3% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 21,154 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $452,000 after purchasing an additional 2,154 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 0.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,594,963 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,722,000 after purchasing an additional 4,012 shares during the period. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC raised its holdings in Heritage Financial by 35.6% during the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 16,171 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $352,000 after buying an additional 4,242 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.30% of the company’s stock.

Heritage Financial Stock Performance

NASDAQ:HFWA opened at $24.91 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $24.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $23.81. Heritage Financial Co. has a 1 year low of $16.55 and a 1 year high of $27.58. The company has a market capitalization of $850.78 million, a P/E ratio of 20.09 and a beta of 0.56.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.51 earnings per share 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%. On average, analysts expect that Heritage Financial Co. will post 2.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Heritage Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 6th were paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.85%. This is a positive change from Heritage Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 6th. Heritage Financial’s payout ratio is currently 77.42%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Heritage Financial

In other news, Director Frederick B. Rivera sold 4,000 shares of Heritage Financial stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.43, for a total value of $101,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,844 shares in the company, valued at approximately $97,752.92. The trade was a 50.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.68% of the company’s stock.

Heritage Financial 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.