Legal & General Group Plc Makes New Investment in Heritage Financial Corporation $HFWA

Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in Heritage Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:HFWA) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 89,971 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,665,000. Legal & General Group Plc owned about 0.22% of Heritage Financial at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of HFWA. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its holdings in Heritage Financial by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 18,381 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $478,000 after buying an additional 514 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Heritage Financial by 12.2% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 6,519 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $193,000 after acquiring an additional 710 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 4.6% during 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 acquiring an additional 881 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank grew its stake in shares of Heritage Financial by 1.5% in the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 67,168 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,746,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Heritage Financial by 7.2% in the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 15,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $380,000 after acquiring an additional 1,052 shares during the period. 78.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Heritage Financial Trading Up 0.2%

Heritage Financial stock opened at $29.29 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $29.60 and a 200 day moving average of $27.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.95 and a beta of 0.48. 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 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $84.12 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.30 million. Heritage Financial had a net margin of 20.44% and a return on equity of 8.78%. As a group, research analysts predict that Heritage Financial Corporation will post 2.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Heritage Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 19th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 5th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 5th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. This is an increase from Heritage Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Heritage Financial’s payout ratio is currently 47.62%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Heritage Financial news, EVP Tony Chalfant sold 3,234 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.92, for a total value of $96,761.28. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 20,362 shares in the company, valued at approximately $609,231.04. This represents a 13.71% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Donald Hinson sold 3,842 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.37, for a total value of $108,997.54. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 41,241 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,170,007.17. This represents a 8.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 24,546 shares of company stock worth $729,057 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.49% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on HFWA. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Heritage Financial from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of Heritage Financial from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Heritage Financial in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Stephens increased their price target on Heritage Financial from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target 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. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $32.50.

Heritage Financial 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.