Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA) Stake Lessened by Ameriprise Financial Inc.

Ameriprise Financial Inc. lessened its stake in Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA) by 31.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 381,247 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 174,684 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned about 1.12% of Heritage Financial worth $9,341,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in HFWA. Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 worth $54,066,000 after buying an additional 465,708 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Heritage Financial by 112.5% during the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in Heritage Financial by 357.0% during the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 143,913 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,526,000 after purchasing an additional 112,419 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Heritage Financial by 83.3% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 225,948 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,536,000 after purchasing an additional 102,665 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tudor Investment Corp ET AL bought a new stake in Heritage Financial during the fourth quarter valued at $1,503,000. Institutional investors own 78.30% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Heritage Financial Stock Up 0.5%

Heritage Financial stock opened at $24.01 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $23.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $24.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $818.89 million, a P/E ratio of 19.36 and a beta of 0.53. 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.

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. The business had revenue of $57.59 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $61.74 million. Heritage Financial had a net margin of 13.64% and a return on equity of 7.17%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Heritage Financial Co. will post 2.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Heritage Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 21st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 7th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 7th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.00%. Heritage Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.86%.

Insider Transactions at Heritage Financial

In related news, CEO Jeffrey J. Deuel sold 7,033 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.66, for a total value of $166,400.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 70,906 shares in the company, valued at $1,677,635.96. This represents a 9.02% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Donald Hinson sold 3,420 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 42,087 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $992,832.33. This represents a 7.52% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 11,311 shares of company stock worth $267,473. Insiders own 1.80% 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.