Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA) Shares Bought by GAMMA Investing LLC

GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA) by 43.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,975 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 601 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Heritage Financial were worth $43,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in Heritage Financial in the second quarter valued at $25,000. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Heritage Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Heritage Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Heritage Financial during the second quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Heritage Financial by 72.6% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,394 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $73,000 after buying an additional 1,428 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on HFWA. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Heritage Financial from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Heritage Financial from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $23.50.

Heritage Financial Stock Performance

Shares of HFWA opened at $23.07 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $800.30 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.35 and a beta of 0.53. Heritage Financial Co. has a 52-week low of $15.50 and a 52-week high of $23.82. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $21.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $19.80.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $56.36 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $58.27 million. Heritage Financial had a net margin of 14.59% and a return on equity of 7.95%. Research analysts predict that Heritage Financial Co. will post 1.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Heritage Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 21st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 7th were issued a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.99%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 7th. Heritage Financial’s payout ratio is 69.17%.

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.