Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Makes New $473,000 Investment in Heritage Financial Corporation $HFWA

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in Heritage Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:HFWA) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 18,200 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $473,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 27,871.4% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,958 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 1,951 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its stake in Heritage Financial by 99.1% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,875 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $69,000 after buying an additional 1,431 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Heritage Financial by 20.8% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,171 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $122,000 after buying an additional 891 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its position in Heritage Financial by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 8,249 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $195,000 after buying an additional 592 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in Heritage Financial by 117.1% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 8,457 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $205,000 after buying an additional 4,561 shares in the last quarter. 78.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on HFWA shares. Zacks Research raised Heritage Financial from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Heritage Financial from $34.00 to $32.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Heritage Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $30.50.

Insider Transactions at Heritage Financial

In other Heritage Financial news, CFO Donald Hinson sold 3,842 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.37, for a total transaction of $108,997.54. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 41,241 shares in the company, valued at $1,170,007.17. This trade represents a 8.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.49% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Heritage Financial Trading Down 2.5%

NASDAQ HFWA opened at $28.70 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $27.93 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $26.70. Heritage Financial Corporation has a twelve month low of $21.32 and a twelve month high of $30.58. The company has a market capitalization of $1.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.07 and a beta of 0.49.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $77.92 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $80.31 million. Heritage Financial had a return on equity of 8.71% and a net margin of 20.50%. Research analysts forecast that Heritage Financial Corporation will post 2.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Heritage Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 6th were paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 6th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. Heritage Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.06%.

Heritage Financial Company Profile

Heritage Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:HFWA) is a bank holding company headquartered in Spokane, Washington. Through its primary subsidiary, Heritage Bank, the company provides a comprehensive range of banking and financial services to both individual and commercial clients. Heritage Bank’s offerings encompass deposit products, lending solutions, treasury and cash management services, mortgage banking, and wealth management, positioning the organization as a full-service community bank.

The company’s lending portfolio includes commercial real estate loans, agricultural loans, small business administration (SBA) loans, construction and development financing, and a variety of consumer mortgage products.