Jennison Associates LLC Purchases 27,143 Shares of Heritage Financial Corporation $HFWA

Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in Heritage Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:HFWA) by 0.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 3,107,165 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 27,143 shares during the quarter. Jennison Associates LLC owned 0.09% of Heritage Financial worth $73,484,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 9.2% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,626,334 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $63,531,000 after purchasing an additional 220,273 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,412,325 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $57,051,000 after purchasing an additional 45,422 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new position in shares of Heritage Financial in the 3rd quarter worth $11,210,000. Algebris UK Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Heritage Financial in the 3rd quarter worth $10,775,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 393,619 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,384,000 after purchasing an additional 6,663 shares in the last quarter. 78.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Heritage Financial

In other news, Director Frederick B. Rivera sold 1,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.31, for a total transaction of $47,358.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 4,972 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $130,813.32. This trade represents a 26.58% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Tony Chalfant sold 4,668 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.65, for a total value of $129,070.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 19,870 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $549,405.50. This represents a 19.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 1.49% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on HFWA. Stephens increased their target price on Heritage Financial from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. DA Davidson raised their price objective on Heritage Financial from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Weiss Ratings upgraded Heritage Financial from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on Heritage Financial from $34.00 to $32.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Heritage Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 4th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Heritage Financial currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $30.50.

Heritage Financial Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:HFWA opened at $27.52 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $26.38 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $25.16. Heritage Financial Corporation has a 1-year low of $21.32 and a 1-year high of $28.98. The stock has a market cap of $1.13 billion, a PE ratio of 13.49 and a beta of 0.49.

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

Heritage Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 6th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 6th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. Heritage Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.