Insider Selling: Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) Director Sells $37,141.00 in Stock

Heritage Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:HFWA) Director Frederick Rivera sold 1,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.57, for a total value of $37,141.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 5,890 shares in the company, valued at approximately $168,277.30. This trade represents a 18.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Heritage Financial Price Performance

Shares of HFWA opened at $28.09 on Friday. Heritage Financial Corporation has a 12-month low of $21.32 and a 12-month high of $31.25. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $29.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $27.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The stock has a market cap of $1.15 billion, a PE ratio of 13.38 and a beta of 0.48.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 $84.12 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.30 million. Analysts anticipate that Heritage Financial Corporation will post 2.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Heritage Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 5th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 5th. This is an increase from Heritage Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. Heritage Financial’s payout ratio is 47.62%.

Institutional Trading of Heritage Financial

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of HFWA. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in shares of Heritage Financial during the 2nd quarter worth about $2,665,000. Heartland Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Heritage Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at about $8,146,000. Rhino Investment Partners Inc increased its position in Heritage Financial by 77.7% in the 1st quarter. Rhino Investment Partners Inc now owns 330,459 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,592,000 after buying an additional 144,515 shares in the last quarter. Martin & Co. Inc. TN bought a new stake in Heritage Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at about $4,031,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new stake in Heritage Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at about $9,142,000. Institutional investors own 78.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HFWA has been the topic of several analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Heritage Financial in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Heritage Financial from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Zacks Research raised Heritage Financial from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. DA Davidson upped their price target on Heritage Financial from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Stephens increased their price target on Heritage Financial from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Heritage Financial has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $32.50.

About Heritage Financial

Heritage Financial Corporation (NASDAQ: HFWA) is a bank holding company headquartered in Olympia, Washington. Through its principal subsidiary, Heritage Bank, the company provides a range of banking and financial services to businesses, individuals, and organizations in communities across Washington and Oregon.

Heritage Bank’s offerings include commercial and industrial lending, commercial real estate and construction loans, residential real estate financing, consumer loans, deposit accounts, cash-management services, online and mobile banking, and other treasury-management solutions.