Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA) CEO Sells $166,400.78 in Stock

Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA) CEO Jeffrey J. Deuel sold 7,033 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.66, for a total transaction of $166,400.78. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 70,906 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,677,635.96. The trade was a 9.02 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Heritage Financial Price Performance

Shares of HFWA opened at $23.61 on Wednesday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $802.53 million, a PE ratio of 19.04 and a beta of 0.53. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $24.47 and a 200 day simple moving average of $24.01. Heritage Financial Co. has a 52-week low of $16.55 and a 52-week high of $27.58.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.06. Heritage Financial had a net margin of 13.64% and a return on equity of 7.17%. Sell-side analysts predict that Heritage Financial Co. will post 2.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Heritage Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 6th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. 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 4.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 6th. Heritage Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 77.42%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded Heritage Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Heritage Financial

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Heritage Financial by 794.1% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,064 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 945 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Heritage Financial by 519.0% during the 4th quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 3,553 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $87,000 after purchasing an additional 2,979 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio raised its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 475.6% in the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 3,989 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $98,000 after purchasing an additional 3,296 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new stake in Heritage Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $157,000. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in Heritage Financial during the fourth quarter worth approximately $166,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.30% of the company’s stock.

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.