Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Sells 1,730 Shares of Heritage Financial Corporation $HFWA

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lessened its holdings in Heritage Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:HFWA) by 14.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,919 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,730 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Heritage Financial were worth $241,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in shares of Heritage Financial by 45.5% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 147,887 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,623,000 after purchasing an additional 46,260 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Heritage Financial by 2.2% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 193,820 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,716,000 after purchasing an additional 4,101 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG increased its stake in Heritage Financial by 60.1% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 29,871 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $732,000 after purchasing an additional 11,210 shares in the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in Heritage Financial in the first quarter worth $844,000. Finally, Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Heritage Financial in the first quarter worth $1,505,000. Institutional investors own 78.30% of the company’s stock.

Heritage Financial Stock Performance

Shares of HFWA opened at $23.35 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. Heritage Financial Corporation has a twelve month low of $19.84 and a twelve month high of $27.58. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $23.83 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $23.63. The firm has a market cap of $792.73 million, a P/E ratio of 16.33 and a beta of 0.57.

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

Heritage Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 6th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 6th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.1%. Heritage Financial’s payout ratio is presently 67.13%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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. 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.