Empowered Funds LLC Buys 5,723 Shares of Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA)

Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA) by 5.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 118,851 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,723 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Heritage Financial were worth $2,912,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in shares of Heritage Financial by 105.4% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 73,300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,595,000 after purchasing an additional 37,606 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Heritage Financial by 46.9% during the 3rd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 65,088 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,417,000 after purchasing an additional 20,792 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 71.4% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,741,058 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,903,000 after buying an additional 725,257 shares in the last quarter. Nwam LLC purchased a new position in Heritage Financial during the 3rd quarter worth $1,194,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 0.4% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 123,283 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,684,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. 78.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Frederick B. Rivera sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.43, for a total value of $101,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,844 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $97,752.92. The trade was a 50.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Heritage Financial Stock Up 0.9 %

HFWA stock opened at $24.47 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $835.65 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.73 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.84. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $24.82 and its 200 day moving average price is $23.65. Heritage Financial Co. has a fifty-two week low of $16.55 and a fifty-two week 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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.06. Heritage Financial had a return on equity of 7.17% and a net margin of 13.64%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Heritage Financial Co. will post 2.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Heritage Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 6th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This is a positive change from Heritage Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.92%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 6th. Heritage Financial’s payout ratio is presently 77.42%.

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. 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.