Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC Purchases 13,890 Shares of Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA)

Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA) by 36.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 52,390 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,890 shares during the quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.15% of Heritage Financial worth $1,121,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new stake in Heritage Financial during the 1st quarter worth $21,625,000. Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in Heritage Financial by 3,419.4% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 307,102 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,410,000 after buying an additional 298,376 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. grew its position in shares of Heritage Financial by 5.2% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 5,193,834 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $111,148,000 after buying an additional 254,391 shares during the period. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC increased its stake in shares of Heritage Financial by 852.5% in the 1st quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 248,875 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,326,000 after acquiring an additional 222,747 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Driehaus Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Heritage Financial in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $5,248,000. 78.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Heritage Financial

In other news, Director Brian Charneski acquired 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 13th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $16.70 per share, with a total value of $83,500.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 36,540 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $610,218. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Heritage Financial Stock Performance

NASDAQ HFWA opened at $17.27 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $17.77 and a 200 day simple moving average of $18.46. Heritage Financial Co. has a 12-month low of $14.85 and a 12-month high of $34.34. The company has a market cap of $605.28 million, a P/E ratio of 7.54 and a beta of 0.57.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 20th. The financial services provider reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.49 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $77.35 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.90 million. Heritage Financial had a net margin of 27.55% and a return on equity of 10.04%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.52 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Heritage Financial Co. will post 1.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Heritage Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 16th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 1st. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.10%. Heritage Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.43%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Heritage Financial in a report on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “sell” rating for the company. Stephens raised their price objective on Heritage Financial from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 28th. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their target price on Heritage Financial from $23.00 to $22.00 in a research note on Monday, July 24th.

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. The company 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.