Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA) Short Interest Up 8.9% in November

Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 400,600 shares, a growth of 8.9% from the October 31st total of 367,700 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 172,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.3 days. Currently, 1.2% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Heritage Financial news, EVP Tony Chalfant sold 2,975 shares of Heritage Financial stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.50, for a total transaction of $78,837.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.68% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Heritage Financial

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of Heritage Financial by 5.2% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 29,784 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $578,000 after purchasing an additional 1,471 shares during the period. Boston Partners grew its stake in shares of Heritage Financial by 70.5% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 112,443 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,180,000 after acquiring an additional 46,511 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Heritage Financial by 133.7% during 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 during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Heritage Financial by 61.2% in the second quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 17,930 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $323,000 after acquiring an additional 6,807 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in Heritage Financial in the second quarter valued at $27,000. 78.30% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Heritage Financial Stock Down 1.1 %

NASDAQ:HFWA traded down $0.30 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $25.98. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 18,671 shares, compared to its average volume of 183,680. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $23.56 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $21.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82. The company has a market capitalization of $887.22 million, a P/E ratio of 24.33 and a beta of 0.55. Heritage Financial has a 12 month low of $16.55 and a 12 month high of $27.58.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.42 by ($0.09). The business had revenue of $81.65 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.17 million. Heritage Financial had a return on equity of 7.01% and a net margin of 12.27%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.51 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Heritage Financial will post 1.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Heritage Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 6th were given a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 6th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.54%. Heritage Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 85.19%.

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.