Mengis Capital Management Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA)

Mengis Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA) by 98.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 20,311 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 10,068 shares during the period. Mengis Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Heritage Financial were worth $498,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in HFWA. CWM LLC lifted its position in shares of Heritage Financial by 17.1% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,297 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $72,000 after buying an additional 481 shares in the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System lifted its holdings in Heritage Financial by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 5,796 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $126,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Aspire Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Heritage Financial in the 4th quarter worth approximately $215,000. Ieq Capital LLC purchased a new position in Heritage Financial in the 4th quarter worth approximately $274,000. Finally, SageView Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in Heritage Financial in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $307,000. 78.30% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Heritage Financial

In other Heritage Financial news, Director Frederick B. Rivera sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $97,752.92. This represents a 50.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Heritage Financial Stock Performance

NASDAQ HFWA opened at $24.15 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $824.72 million, a P/E ratio of 19.48 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 business’s 50 day moving average price is $24.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $23.78. 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 released 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%. Sell-side analysts predict that Heritage Financial Co. will post 2.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Heritage Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 6th were given a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.98%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 6th. This is an increase from Heritage Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. Heritage Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 77.42%.

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.