BNP Paribas Arbitrage SA boosted its holdings in Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA) by 145.6% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 18,113 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,737 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SA’s holdings in Heritage Financial were worth $512,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. US Bancorp DE grew its stake in Heritage Financial by 51.8% during the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,375 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 469 shares during the last quarter. Veriti Management LLC bought a new stake in Heritage Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $73,000. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in Heritage Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $167,000. Soundmark Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Heritage Financial during the first quarter worth about $215,000. Finally, Citigroup Inc. grew its stake in Heritage Financial by 91.7% during the fourth quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 10,098 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $236,000 after buying an additional 4,831 shares during the last quarter. 80.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
In related news, EVP Tony Chalfant sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.52, for a total value of $57,040.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,771 shares in the company, valued at $478,308.92. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director John A. Clees sold 3,256 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.65, for a total transaction of $93,284.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 45,203 shares in the company, valued at $1,295,065.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 13,396 shares of company stock worth $388,254 over the last quarter. 1.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.
Separately, Zacks Investment Research raised shares of Heritage Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $33.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 7th.
Shares of HFWA stock opened at $27.78 on Friday. Heritage Financial Co. has a 1 year low of $17.15 and a 1 year high of $30.86. The business’s 50 day moving average is $28.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $999.55 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.84 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.89.
Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.17. Heritage Financial had a net margin of 23.75% and a return on equity of 7.36%. The company had revenue of $60.49 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $62.67 million. Equities research analysts anticipate that Heritage Financial Co. will post 2.09 earnings per share for the current year.
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 5th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 4th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.88%. Heritage Financial’s payout ratio is 62.02%.
Heritage Financial Company 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. The company 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.
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