Tony Chalfant Sells 3,234 Shares of Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) Stock

Heritage Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:HFWA) EVP Tony Chalfant sold 3,234 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.92, for a total transaction of $96,761.28. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 20,362 shares in the company, valued at approximately $609,231.04. The trade was a 13.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Heritage Financial Price Performance

HFWA stock opened at $29.65 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $29.17 and a 200-day moving average of $27.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.12 and a beta of 0.50. Heritage Financial Corporation has a 12 month low of $21.32 and a 12 month high of $31.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.13. Heritage Financial had a net margin of 20.44% and a return on equity of 8.78%. The business had revenue of $84.13 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.30 million. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Heritage Financial Corporation will post 2.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Heritage Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 5th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This is an increase from Heritage Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 5th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. Heritage Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.62%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on HFWA. DA Davidson increased their price objective on Heritage Financial from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Heritage Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Heritage Financial from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Heritage Financial from $34.00 to $32.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Heritage Financial from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Heritage Financial currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $32.50.

Institutional Trading of Heritage Financial

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of HFWA. Global Retirement Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Heritage Financial in the second quarter worth approximately $95,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in shares of Heritage Financial during the second quarter worth approximately $11,817,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Heritage Financial by 12.2% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 6,519 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $193,000 after acquiring an additional 710 shares in the last quarter. Rhino Investment Partners Inc raised its stake in shares of Heritage Financial by 77.7% during the first quarter. Rhino Investment Partners Inc now owns 330,459 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,592,000 after acquiring an additional 144,515 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 8.9% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 166,079 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,318,000 after acquiring an additional 13,564 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.30% of the company’s stock.

Heritage Financial Company Profile

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.