Mengis Capital Management Inc. Raises Stake in Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA)

Mengis Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA) by 98.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 20,311 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 10,068 shares during the quarter. Mengis Capital Management Inc. owned 0.06% of Heritage Financial worth $498,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in Heritage Financial by 17.1% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,297 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $72,000 after purchasing an additional 481 shares during the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System increased its position in shares of Heritage Financial by 9.4% during the third quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 5,796 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $126,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. Aspire Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Heritage Financial during the fourth quarter valued at about $215,000. Ieq Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Heritage Financial during the fourth quarter valued at about $274,000. Finally, SageView Advisory Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Heritage Financial during the third quarter valued at about $307,000. 78.30% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on HFWA. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Heritage Financial from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Stephens upped their price target on Heritage Financial from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Heritage Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th.

Heritage Financial Price Performance

HFWA stock opened at $24.15 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The company’s 50 day moving average is $24.55 and its 200 day moving average is $23.78. The stock has a market cap of $824.72 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.48 and a beta of 0.56. Heritage Financial Co. has a 1-year low of $16.55 and a 1-year high of $27.58.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.51 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%. Sell-side analysts predict that Heritage Financial Co. will post 2.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Heritage Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 6th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 6th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.98%. This is a positive change from Heritage Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. Heritage Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 77.42%.

Insider Activity

In other Heritage Financial news, Director Frederick B. Rivera sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.43, for a total value of $101,720.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,844 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $97,752.92. This trade represents a 50.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

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.