Public Sector Pension Investment Board Cuts Position in Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA)

Public Sector Pension Investment Board decreased its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA) by 4.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 73,210 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,100 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board’s holdings in Heritage Financial were worth $1,594,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in HFWA. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Heritage Financial by 133.7% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,374 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 786 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in Heritage Financial in the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in Heritage Financial in the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new position in Heritage Financial in the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Heritage Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. 78.30% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Tony Chalfant sold 2,975 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 20,119 shares in the company, valued at approximately $533,153.50. The trade was a 12.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Heritage Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ HFWA opened at $26.12 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $23.84 and its 200-day moving average price is $21.40. Heritage Financial Co. has a 52-week low of $16.55 and a 52-week high of $27.58. The company has a market cap of $892.10 million, a PE ratio of 24.19 and a beta of 0.55. 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 (NASDAQ:HFWA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.42 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $81.65 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $58.17 million. Heritage Financial had a return on equity of 7.01% and a net margin of 12.27%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.51 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Heritage Financial Co. will post 1.65 EPS for the current year.

Heritage Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 6th were issued a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 6th. Heritage Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 85.19%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Stephens upped their target price on shares of Heritage Financial from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Heritage Financial from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $25.00.

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.