Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA) Short Interest Up 12.8% in January

Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 467,800 shares, a growth of 12.8% from the December 31st total of 414,900 shares. Currently, 1.4% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 178,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.6 days.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Tony Chalfant sold 2,975 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.50, for a total value of $78,837.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 20,119 shares in the company, valued at approximately $533,153.50. This represents a 12.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Frederick B. Rivera sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the director now owns 3,844 shares in the company, valued at approximately $97,752.92. This represents a 50.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.68% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Heritage Financial

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in Heritage Financial by 71.4% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,741,058 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,903,000 after acquiring an additional 725,257 shares during the period. Nwam LLC purchased a new position in Heritage Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,194,000. 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 in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC grew its holdings in 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 valued at $1,417,000 after buying an additional 20,792 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings in Heritage Financial by 90.7% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 34,672 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $755,000 after buying an additional 16,489 shares in the last quarter. 78.30% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Heritage Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ HFWA traded down $0.59 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $25.11. 190,690 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 187,890. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $25.04 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $23.50. Heritage Financial has a 52 week low of $16.55 and a 52 week high of $27.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $857.51 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.25 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.82.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. Analysts predict that Heritage Financial will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Heritage Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 6th. This is a boost from Heritage Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.82%. Heritage Financial’s payout ratio is 74.19%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on HFWA. Stephens raised 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. StockNews.com raised shares of Heritage Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price objective 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.

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.