Algebris UK Ltd. Makes New Investment in Heritage Financial Corporation $HFWA

Algebris UK Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Heritage Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:HFWA) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 445,760 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $10,775,000. Algebris UK Ltd. owned approximately 1.31% of Heritage Financial as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Heritage Financial by 27,871.4% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,958 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 1,951 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 99.1% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,875 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $69,000 after acquiring an additional 1,431 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Heritage Financial by 53.3% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,557 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $109,000 after acquiring an additional 1,585 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 100.5% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 7,657 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $185,000 after purchasing an additional 3,838 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS purchased a new position in shares of Heritage Financial in the second quarter valued at $209,000. 78.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on HFWA. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Heritage Financial in a research report on Thursday. Zacks Research cut shares of Heritage Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. 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 boosted their price objective on Heritage Financial from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Finally, DA Davidson raised their price objective on Heritage Financial from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $30.33.

Heritage Financial News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Heritage Financial this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 results topped expectations: Heritage reported $0.66 EPS (vs. $0.57 consensus) and revenue modestly beat, with improved ROA and net margin — a fundamental beat that supports earnings momentum. PR Newswire: Q4 Results
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrade: DA Davidson raised its price target to $32 and assigned a “buy” rating, implying ~20% upside from current levels — a bullish signal from a large regional-bank analyst. The Fly: Price Target Raised
• Positive Sentiment: Merger synergy potential: Management outlined near-4% margin improvement potential from integrating Olympic, which, if realized, could materially lift profitability over time. Seeking Alpha: Margin Improvement
• Neutral Sentiment: Full disclosure available: The earnings call transcript, slide deck and detailed Q4 presentation are published for deeper review of guidance, loan/deposit trends and expense assumptions. Use these to vet the merger and margin assumptions. Seeking Alpha: Earnings Transcript
• Neutral Sentiment: Market coverage: Multiple outlets highlight the “strong quarter and acquisition prep” narrative; useful for context but not new company-specific data. TipRanks: Strong Quarter & Acquisition
• Negative Sentiment: Shareholder-approved stock issuance for the merger raises near-term dilution concerns — investors may be weighing dilution vs. long-term synergies, pressuring the share price. TipRanks: Shareholder Approval
• Negative Sentiment: Market reaction and volume: Despite beats and an analyst upgrade, shares are trading lower on elevated volume — likely a mix of profit-taking after recent gains, merger/dilution uncertainty, and short-term positioning. Benzinga: Market Note

Heritage Financial Stock Down 5.5%

NASDAQ:HFWA opened at $26.58 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $902.66 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.56 and a beta of 0.52. Heritage Financial Corporation has a twelve month low of $19.84 and a twelve month high of $28.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $24.42 and a 200-day simple moving average of $23.95.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.09. Heritage Financial had a net margin of 20.10% and a return on equity of 8.61%. The firm had revenue of $66.35 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $65.95 million. Analysts anticipate that Heritage Financial Corporation will post 2.09 EPS for the current year.

Heritage Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 11th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 28th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 28th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.6%. Heritage Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.98%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Heritage Financial

In other news, President Bryan Mcdonald acquired 19,106 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 20th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $22.32 per share, for a total transaction of $426,445.92. Following the completion of the acquisition, the president directly owned 31,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $700,022.16. The trade was a 155.88% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.90% of the company’s stock.

About Heritage Financial

Heritage Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:HFWA) is a bank holding company headquartered in Spokane, Washington. Through its primary subsidiary, Heritage Bank, the company provides a comprehensive range of banking and financial services to both individual and commercial clients. Heritage Bank’s offerings encompass deposit products, lending solutions, treasury and cash management services, mortgage banking, and wealth management, positioning the organization as a full-service community bank.

The company’s lending portfolio includes commercial real estate loans, agricultural loans, small business administration (SBA) loans, construction and development financing, and a variety of consumer mortgage products.