Royce & Associates LP Has $5.88 Million Stake in Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA)

Royce & Associates LP trimmed its position in shares of Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA) by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 270,169 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 19,374 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP owned 0.78% of Heritage Financial worth $5,882,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HFWA. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 60.7% during the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 15,919 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $341,000 after buying an additional 6,010 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Heritage Financial by 5.2% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 29,784 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $578,000 after acquiring an additional 1,471 shares during the period. Boston Partners grew its stake in Heritage Financial by 70.5% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 112,443 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,180,000 after acquiring an additional 46,511 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 133.7% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,374 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 786 shares during the period. Finally, Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Heritage Financial by 61.2% in the second quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 17,930 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $323,000 after purchasing an additional 6,807 shares in the last quarter. 78.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Heritage Financial Stock Performance

Shares of HFWA opened at $26.16 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $893.36 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.22 and a beta of 0.52. The company’s fifty day moving average is $22.69 and its 200-day moving average is $20.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current 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 $27.55.

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

Heritage Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 6th will be given a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 6th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.52%. Heritage Financial’s payout ratio is currently 85.19%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on HFWA. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Heritage Financial from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Piper Sandler upped 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. Finally, Stephens lifted their price objective on Heritage Financial from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $25.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Heritage Financial news, EVP Tony Chalfant sold 2,975 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.50, for a total transaction of $78,837.50. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

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.