Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA) CEO Jeffrey J. Deuel Sells 7,033 Shares

Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA) CEO Jeffrey J. Deuel sold 7,033 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.66, for a total transaction of $166,400.78. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 70,906 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,677,635.96. This represents a 9.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Heritage Financial Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of HFWA opened at $23.67 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $24.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $24.01. Heritage Financial Co. has a one year low of $16.55 and a one year high of $27.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $804.57 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.09 and a beta of 0.53.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that Heritage Financial Co. will post 2.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Heritage Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 6th were paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.06%. This is a positive change from Heritage Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 6th. Heritage Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 77.42%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com raised shares of Heritage Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Heritage Financial

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in Heritage Financial by 105.4% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 73,300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,595,000 after buying an additional 37,606 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Heritage Financial during the fourth quarter worth $280,000. Jane Street Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Heritage Financial by 46.9% in the 3rd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 65,088 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,417,000 after purchasing an additional 20,792 shares during the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Heritage Financial during the 4th quarter worth $274,000. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in shares of Heritage Financial by 71.4% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,741,058 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,903,000 after purchasing an additional 725,257 shares during the last quarter. 78.30% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.