SG Americas Securities LLC Lowers Stock Position in Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA)

SG Americas Securities LLC reduced its position in Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA) by 43.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,029 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,714 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Heritage Financial were worth $148,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HFWA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 0.4% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 123,283 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,684,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in Heritage Financial by 105.4% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 73,300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,595,000 after buying an additional 37,606 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd increased its position in Heritage Financial by 73.8% during the third quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 35,933 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $782,000 after buying an additional 15,259 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 46.9% in the third quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 65,088 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,417,000 after acquiring an additional 20,792 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Heritage Financial by 0.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,594,963 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,722,000 after acquiring an additional 4,012 shares in the last quarter. 78.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Heritage Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Stephens lifted their price target on Heritage Financial from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Heritage Financial from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Frederick B. Rivera sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.43, for a total value of $101,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 3,844 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $97,752.92. The trade was a 50.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Heritage Financial Price Performance

Shares of Heritage Financial stock opened at $24.76 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $845.55 million, a P/E ratio of 19.97 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $24.91 and its 200 day moving average price is $23.62. Heritage Financial Co. has a twelve month low of $16.55 and a twelve month high of $27.58.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.06. Heritage Financial had a net margin of 13.64% and a return on equity of 7.17%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Heritage Financial Co. will post 2.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Heritage Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 6th will be given a $0.24 dividend. This is an increase from Heritage Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 6th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.88%. Heritage Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.42%.

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.