Insider Buying: Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) President Buys 19,106 Shares of Stock

Heritage Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:HFWA) President Bryan Mcdonald bought 19,106 shares of Heritage Financial stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 20th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $22.32 per share, for a total transaction of $426,445.92. Following the completion of the acquisition, the president directly owned 31,363 shares in the company, valued at approximately $700,022.16. The trade was a 155.88% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Heritage Financial Trading Up 0.1%

HFWA traded up $0.03 during trading on Monday, hitting $23.30. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 193,167 shares, compared to its average volume of 206,664. The firm has a market capitalization of $791.20 million, a P/E ratio of 14.12 and a beta of 0.57. Heritage Financial Corporation has a twelve month low of $19.84 and a twelve month high of $27.58. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $23.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $23.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56. Heritage Financial had a return on equity of 8.21% and a net margin of 17.27%.The business had revenue of $65.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $65.25 million. Analysts anticipate that Heritage Financial Corporation will post 2.09 EPS for the current year.

Heritage Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 5th were given a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 5th. Heritage Financial’s payout ratio is currently 58.18%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Heritage Financial

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in Heritage Financial by 3.7% during the third quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,452 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $301,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its stake in shares of Heritage Financial by 14.8% in the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,042 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $98,000 after buying an additional 520 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Heritage Financial by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 20,060 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $488,000 after purchasing an additional 881 shares during the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC increased its stake in Heritage Financial by 8.3% in the first quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 12,115 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $295,000 after purchasing an additional 925 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 2.7% during the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 35,891 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $868,000 after acquiring an additional 960 shares during the period. 78.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on HFWA shares. Zacks Research raised Heritage Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Heritage Financial in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Heritage Financial from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. DA Davidson set a $29.00 price target on Heritage Financial in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Heritage Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $29.33.

About Heritage Financial

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.