Franklin Resources Inc. Makes New $520,000 Investment in Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA)

Franklin Resources Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 21,206 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $520,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Barclays PLC grew its position in Heritage Financial by 105.4% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 73,300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,595,000 after buying an additional 37,606 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Heritage Financial during the 4th quarter valued at about $280,000. Jane Street Group LLC grew its holdings 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 worth $1,417,000 after purchasing an additional 20,792 shares in the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Heritage Financial in the fourth quarter worth approximately $274,000. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake 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 valued at $54,066,000 after purchasing an additional 465,708 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.30% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Donald Hinson sold 3,420 shares of Heritage Financial stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.59, for a total value of $80,677.80. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 42,087 shares in the company, valued at approximately $992,832.33. The trade was a 7.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Frederick B. Rivera sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The shares were 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 $97,752.92. This represents a 50.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 15,311 shares of company stock worth $369,193 in the last 90 days. 1.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Heritage Financial Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of HFWA stock opened at $21.85 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The firm has a market cap of $742.70 million, a P/E ratio of 17.62 and a beta of 0.47. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $23.50 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $24.11. Heritage Financial Co. has a 12-month low of $16.55 and a 12-month high of $27.58.

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

Heritage Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 6th were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 6th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.39%. This is a positive change from Heritage Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. Heritage Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 77.42%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.