Nwam LLC Trims Stake in Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA)

Nwam LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA) by 2.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 53,477 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,375 shares during the quarter. Nwam LLC’s holdings in Heritage Financial were worth $1,310,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. New York State Teachers Retirement System grew its stake in Heritage Financial by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 5,796 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $126,000 after buying an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Aspire Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Heritage Financial in the 4th quarter worth approximately $215,000. Ieq Capital LLC purchased a new position in Heritage Financial in the fourth quarter worth $274,000. SageView Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in Heritage Financial in the third quarter worth $307,000. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new position in Heritage Financial in the third quarter worth $338,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.30% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded Heritage Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th.

Heritage Financial Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of HFWA opened at $24.91 on Friday. Heritage Financial Co. has a 1 year low of $16.55 and a 1 year high of $27.58. The firm has a market cap of $850.78 million, a P/E ratio of 20.09 and a beta of 0.56. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $24.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $23.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.82.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.06. Heritage Financial had a net margin of 13.64% and a return on equity of 7.17%. On average, analysts forecast that Heritage Financial Co. will post 2.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Heritage Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 6th were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 6th. This is a boost from Heritage Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.85%. Heritage Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 77.42%.

Insider Activity at Heritage Financial

In other news, Director Frederick B. Rivera sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.43, for a total transaction of $101,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 3,844 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $97,752.92. This represents a 50.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.68% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.