Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Acquires 46,769 Shares of Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA)

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA) by 12.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 433,296 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 46,769 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership owned 1.27% of Heritage Financial worth $10,616,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Heritage Financial by 83.3% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 225,948 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,536,000 after acquiring an additional 102,665 shares during the last quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd raised its position in shares of Heritage Financial by 211.6% during the fourth quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 34,361 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $842,000 after acquiring an additional 23,332 shares during the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. acquired a new position in shares of Heritage Financial during the fourth quarter valued at $168,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new position in Heritage Financial in the fourth quarter valued at about $157,000. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of Heritage Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $166,000. 78.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Heritage Financial

In related news, CFO Donald Hinson sold 3,420 shares of Heritage Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.59, for a total value of $80,677.80. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 42,087 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $992,832.33. This trade represents a 7.52 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Frederick B. Rivera sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.43, for a total value of $101,720.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,844 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $97,752.92. This trade represents a 50.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 15,311 shares of company stock valued at $369,193 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Heritage Financial Stock Down 4.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ HFWA opened at $21.49 on Friday. Heritage Financial Co. has a 52-week low of $16.55 and a 52-week high of $27.58. 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 stock has a market cap of $730.47 million, a P/E ratio of 17.33 and a beta of 0.47. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $24.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $24.16.

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 expect that Heritage Financial Co. will post 2.09 EPS for the current year.

Heritage Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 6th were issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 6th. This is a boost from Heritage Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. Heritage Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 77.42%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded shares of 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.