Sei Investments Co. Reduces Stock Holdings in Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA)

Sei Investments Co. lessened its stake in shares of Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA) by 25.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 47,958 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 16,426 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co.’s holdings in Heritage Financial were worth $1,175,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of HFWA. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 105.4% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 73,300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,595,000 after acquiring an additional 37,606 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Heritage Financial in the fourth quarter worth about $280,000. Jane Street Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Heritage Financial by 46.9% during the third 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 during the period. Ieq Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Heritage Financial during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $274,000. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 465,708 shares during the period. 78.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Jeffrey J. Deuel sold 7,033 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.66, for a total value of $166,400.78. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Frederick B. Rivera sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now owns 3,844 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $97,752.92. This represents a 50.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 15,311 shares of company stock worth $369,193. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Heritage Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:HFWA opened at $21.34 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $24.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $24.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.84. Heritage Financial Co. has a one year low of $16.55 and a one year high of $27.58. The firm has a market cap of $725.37 million, a PE ratio of 17.21 and a beta of 0.47.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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, equities analysts predict that Heritage Financial Co. will post 2.09 EPS for the current year.

Heritage Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. This is an increase from Heritage Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 6th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.50%. Heritage Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 77.42%.

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.