Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Raises Stock Position in Heritage Financial Corporation $HFWA

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:HFWA) by 13.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 504,509 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 59,633 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership owned approximately 1.49% of Heritage Financial worth $12,027,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HFWA. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Heritage Financial by 53.3% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,557 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $109,000 after acquiring an additional 1,585 shares during the last quarter. Marshall & Sullivan Inc. WA acquired a new stake in shares of Heritage Financial in the second quarter worth $146,000. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS purchased a new position in shares of Heritage Financial during the second quarter worth $209,000. Ieq Capital LLC lifted its position in Heritage Financial by 8.3% during the first quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 12,115 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $295,000 after purchasing an additional 925 shares during the period. Finally, Keeley Teton Advisors LLC lifted its position in Heritage Financial by 36.4% during the first quarter. Keeley Teton Advisors LLC now owns 19,802 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $482,000 after purchasing an additional 5,283 shares during the period. 78.30% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Heritage Financial Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:HFWA opened at $24.34 on Wednesday. Heritage Financial Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $19.84 and a fifty-two week high of $26.58. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $23.15 and its 200 day moving average price is $23.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The stock has a market cap of $826.51 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.75 and a beta of 0.52.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.56. The business had revenue of $65.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $65.25 million. Heritage Financial had a net margin of 17.27% and a return on equity of 8.21%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Heritage Financial Corporation will post 2.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Heritage Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 5th were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 5th. Heritage Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 58.18%.

Insider Activity at Heritage Financial

In other Heritage Financial news, President Bryan Mcdonald bought 19,106 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 20th. The shares were bought at an average price of $22.32 per share, for a total transaction of $426,445.92. Following the transaction, the president owned 31,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $700,022.16. This trade represents a 155.88% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 1.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on HFWA. Wall Street Zen upgraded Heritage Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Heritage Financial from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Heritage Financial in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Zacks Research cut Heritage Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Finally, DA Davidson set a $29.00 price objective on shares of Heritage Financial in a report on Monday, September 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $29.33.

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.