State Street Corp Buys 4,012 Shares of Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA)

State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA) by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,594,963 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,012 shares during the quarter. State Street Corp owned about 4.67% of Heritage Financial worth $34,722,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 61.2% during the 2nd quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 17,930 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $323,000 after acquiring an additional 6,807 shares during the period. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Heritage Financial in the second quarter worth $27,000. Great Lakes Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Heritage Financial by 5.4% in the second quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 220,644 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,978,000 after purchasing an additional 11,318 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in Heritage Financial during the second quarter valued at $325,000. Finally, Texas Permanent School Fund Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 60.0% during the 2nd quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 48,874 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $881,000 after buying an additional 18,325 shares in the last quarter. 78.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Heritage Financial from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Stephens raised their target price on shares of Heritage Financial from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $25.00.

Insider Activity at Heritage Financial

In related news, EVP Tony Chalfant sold 2,975 shares of Heritage Financial stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.50, for a total value of $78,837.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 20,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $533,153.50. The trade was a 12.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.68% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Heritage Financial Stock Performance

HFWA stock opened at $24.37 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $24.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $21.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. Heritage Financial Co. has a 12-month low of $16.55 and a 12-month high of $27.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $832.33 million, a PE ratio of 22.57 and a beta of 0.55.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.42 by ($0.09). Heritage Financial had a net margin of 12.27% and a return on equity of 7.01%. The business had revenue of $81.65 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $58.17 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.51 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Heritage Financial Co. will post 1.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Heritage Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 6th were issued a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 6th. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.78%. Heritage Financial’s payout ratio is 85.19%.

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.