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

Heritage Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:HFWA) President Bryan Mcdonald purchased 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, with a total value of $426,445.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the president directly owned 31,363 shares in the company, valued at $700,022.16. The trade was a 155.88% increase 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

HFWA traded up $0.03 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $23.30. 193,167 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 206,664. The company has a market capitalization of $791.20 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.12 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. Heritage Financial Corporation has a 52-week low of $19.84 and a 52-week high of $27.58. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $23.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $23.65.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting 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 the consensus estimate of $65.25 million. On average, equities analysts forecast that Heritage Financial Corporation will post 2.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Heritage Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 19th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 5th were issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 5th. Heritage Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 58.18%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Heritage Financial

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in Heritage Financial by 8.2% during the 2nd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,977,315 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $70,979,000 after purchasing an additional 225,201 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 9.2% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,626,334 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $63,531,000 after purchasing an additional 220,273 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Heritage Financial by 0.4% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 828,029 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $19,741,000 after purchasing an additional 3,447 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 13.4% in the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 504,509 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $12,027,000 after purchasing an additional 59,633 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new stake in Heritage Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at $11,210,000. 78.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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