Stifel Financial Corp Invests $205,000 in Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA)

Stifel Financial Corp purchased a new position in Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 8,367 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $205,000.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Heritage Financial by 794.1% in 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 in the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in Heritage Financial during the fourth quarter valued at about $157,000. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in Heritage Financial during the fourth quarter valued at about $166,000. Zions Bancorporation N.A. bought a new stake in Heritage Financial during the fourth quarter valued at about $168,000. Finally, Aspire Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Heritage Financial during the fourth quarter valued at about $215,000. 78.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Heritage Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of Heritage Financial from $34.00 to $31.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of Heritage Financial from $27.00 to $26.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Jeffrey J. Deuel sold 7,033 shares of Heritage Financial 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 70,906 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,677,635.96. This trade represents a 9.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Donald Hinson sold 3,420 shares of Heritage Financial stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.59, for a total transaction of $80,677.80. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 42,087 shares in the company, valued at approximately $992,832.33. This represents a 7.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 11,311 shares of company stock valued at $267,473. Company insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Heritage Financial Stock Performance

NASDAQ HFWA opened at $24.29 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $828.43 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.59 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a 50 day moving average of $23.02 and a 200-day moving average of $24.31. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. Heritage Financial Co. has a 1-year low of $16.55 and a 1-year high of $27.58.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $57.59 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $61.74 million. Heritage Financial had a net margin of 13.64% and a return on equity of 7.17%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Heritage Financial Co. will post 2.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Heritage Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 21st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.95%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 7th. Heritage Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.86%.

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.