Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH Makes New Investment in Heritage Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:HFWA)

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new position in Heritage Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:HFWA) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 18,192 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $443,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH owned about 0.05% of Heritage Financial at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of HFWA. CWM LLC increased its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 14.8% during the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,042 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $98,000 after acquiring an additional 520 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 5.0% during the 1st quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 11,864 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $289,000 after acquiring an additional 567 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 45.3% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,972 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $72,000 after acquiring an additional 927 shares during the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 794.1% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,064 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 945 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 29,901 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $733,000 after acquiring an additional 1,914 shares during the last quarter. 78.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on HFWA shares. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on Heritage Financial from $34.00 to $31.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. Wall Street Zen lowered Heritage Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, July 26th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on Heritage Financial from $27.00 to $26.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th.

Heritage Financial Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:HFWA opened at $22.13 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $23.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $23.79. Heritage Financial Corporation has a twelve month low of $19.84 and a twelve month high of $27.58. The company has a market cap of $754.85 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.48 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.03. Heritage Financial had a return on equity of 7.34% and a net margin of 15.22%. The firm had revenue of $56.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $63.54 million. Research analysts predict that Heritage Financial Corporation will post 2.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Heritage Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 6th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.3%. Heritage Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 67.13%.

About Heritage Financial

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.