Heritage Financial Corporation $HFWA Shares Bought by Basswood Capital Management L.L.C.

Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. grew its stake in shares of Heritage Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:HFWA) by 163.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 607,105 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 376,368 shares during the quarter. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C.’s holdings in Heritage Financial were worth $14,358,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in Heritage Financial by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,107,165 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $73,484,000 after purchasing an additional 27,143 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Heritage Financial by 9.2% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,626,334 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $63,531,000 after purchasing an additional 220,273 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Heritage Financial by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,412,325 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $57,051,000 after purchasing an additional 45,422 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Heritage Financial by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,573,458 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,212,000 after purchasing an additional 48,765 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Heritage Financial by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 842,598 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $19,929,000 after purchasing an additional 4,170 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.30% of the company’s stock.

Heritage Financial Stock Performance

Shares of HFWA opened at $29.04 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The firm has a market cap of $1.20 billion, a PE ratio of 14.24 and a beta of 0.49. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $27.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $26.14. Heritage Financial Corporation has a 12-month low of $21.32 and a 12-month high of $29.12.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $77.92 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $80.31 million. Heritage Financial had a net margin of 20.50% and a return on equity of 8.71%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Heritage Financial Corporation will post 2.39 EPS for the current year.

Heritage Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 6th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 6th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. Heritage Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.06%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HFWA has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Heritage Financial from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Zacks Research cut shares of Heritage Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of Heritage Financial from $34.00 to $32.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Heritage Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $30.50.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Donald Hinson sold 3,842 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.37, for a total transaction of $108,997.54. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 41,241 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,170,007.17. This trade represents a 8.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 1.49% 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.