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 Heritage Financial 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 70,906 shares in the company, valued at $1,677,635.96. This represents a 9.02 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Heritage Financial Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:HFWA traded down $0.19 on Tuesday, hitting $23.61. The stock had a trading volume of 367,149 shares, compared to its average volume of 182,413. Heritage Financial Co. has a twelve month low of $16.55 and a twelve month 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 firm’s 50 day moving average price is $24.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $24.01. The company has a market capitalization of $802.53 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.04 and a beta of 0.53.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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, equities research analysts predict that Heritage Financial Co. will post 2.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Heritage Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 6th were paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 6th. This is an increase from Heritage Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. Heritage Financial’s payout ratio is currently 77.42%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Heritage Financial by 794.1% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,064 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 945 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. lifted its position in Heritage Financial by 519.0% during the 4th quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 3,553 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $87,000 after buying an additional 2,979 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lifted its position in Heritage Financial by 475.6% during the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 3,989 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $98,000 after buying an additional 3,296 shares in the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in Heritage Financial during the 4th quarter worth about $157,000. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in Heritage Financial during the 4th quarter worth about $166,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.30% of the company’s stock.

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.