American Century Companies Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in Heritage Financial Corporation $HFWA

American Century Companies Inc. lessened its holdings in Heritage Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:HFWA) by 34.3% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 140,324 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 73,304 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in Heritage Financial were worth $3,345,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Heritage Financial by 53.3% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,557 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $109,000 after acquiring an additional 1,585 shares during the last quarter. Marshall & Sullivan Inc. WA bought a new position in Heritage Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at about $146,000. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT purchased a new stake in shares of Heritage Financial during the 1st quarter valued at about $167,000. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS bought a new stake in shares of Heritage Financial in the second quarter worth approximately $209,000. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Heritage Financial by 8.3% in the first quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 12,115 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $295,000 after acquiring an additional 925 shares during the period. 78.30% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Heritage Financial Stock Performance

NASDAQ:HFWA opened at $24.27 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $824.21 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.71 and a beta of 0.52. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $23.15 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $23.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.84. Heritage Financial Corporation has a 1 year low of $19.84 and a 1 year high of $26.58.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.56. Heritage Financial had a return on equity of 8.21% and a net margin of 17.27%.The firm had revenue of $65.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $65.25 million. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Heritage Financial Corporation will post 2.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Heritage Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 5th were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 5th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.0%. Heritage Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 58.18%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Zacks Research lowered Heritage Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Heritage Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 15th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Heritage Financial in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Heritage Financial from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Finally, DA Davidson set a $29.00 target price on shares of Heritage Financial in a report on Monday, September 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $29.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at Heritage Financial

In other news, President Bryan Mcdonald bought 19,106 shares of Heritage Financial stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 20th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $22.32 per share, for a total transaction of $426,445.92. Following the completion of the acquisition, the president owned 31,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $700,022.16. This trade represents a 155.88% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.