Principal Financial Group Inc. Buys 5,751 Shares of Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA)

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA) by 3.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 189,719 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,751 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Heritage Financial were worth $4,648,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of HFWA. Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in Heritage Financial by 26.7% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,206,766 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $54,066,000 after purchasing an additional 465,708 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Heritage Financial by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,594,963 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,722,000 after buying an additional 4,012 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Heritage Financial by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 123,283 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,684,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in Heritage Financial by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 118,851 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,912,000 after acquiring an additional 5,723 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its stake in Heritage Financial by 105.4% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 73,300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,595,000 after acquiring an additional 37,606 shares during the period. 78.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Heritage Financial

In related news, Director Frederick B. Rivera sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now owns 3,844 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $97,752.92. This trade represents a 50.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Heritage Financial Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:HFWA opened at $25.19 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $860.34 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.31 and a beta of 0.56. Heritage Financial Co. has a 12 month low of $16.55 and a 12 month high of $27.58. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $24.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $23.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Heritage Financial Co. will post 2.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Heritage Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 6th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 6th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.81%. This is an increase from Heritage Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. Heritage Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 77.42%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.