Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA) Shares Purchased by Northern Trust Corp

Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA) by 1.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 433,678 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,201 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp owned approximately 1.27% of Heritage Financial worth $10,625,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of HFWA. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in Heritage Financial by 26.7% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,206,766 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $54,066,000 after purchasing an additional 465,708 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Heritage Financial by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,068,354 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $50,674,000 after buying an additional 33,429 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Heritage Financial by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,249,905 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,623,000 after acquiring an additional 8,731 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in Heritage Financial by 12.1% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 433,296 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,616,000 after purchasing an additional 46,769 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Heritage Financial by 112.5% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 369,429 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,051,000 after purchasing an additional 195,541 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on HFWA shares. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of Heritage Financial from $34.00 to $31.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on Heritage Financial from $27.00 to $26.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Heritage Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th.

Heritage Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:HFWA opened at $23.93 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.84. Heritage Financial Co. has a one year low of $16.55 and a one year high of $27.58. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $23.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $24.32. The company has a market cap of $816.16 million, a P/E ratio of 19.30 and a beta of 0.53.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.03. Heritage Financial had a return on equity of 7.17% and a net margin of 13.64%. The business had revenue of $57.59 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $61.74 million. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Heritage Financial Co. will post 2.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Heritage Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 21st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 7th will be given a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 7th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.01%. Heritage Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.86%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Donald Hinson sold 3,420 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.59, for a total transaction of $80,677.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 42,087 shares in the company, valued at approximately $992,832.33. This trade represents a 7.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Jeffrey J. Deuel sold 7,033 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.66, for a total transaction of $166,400.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 70,906 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,677,635.96. This represents a 9.02% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 11,311 shares of company stock worth $267,473. 1.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.