Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA) Short Interest Up 20.6% in February

Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 695,200 shares, a growth of 20.6% from the January 31st total of 576,400 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 191,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.6 days. Currently, 2.1% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Frederick B. Rivera sold 4,000 shares of Heritage Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.43, for a total value of $101,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,844 shares in the company, valued at approximately $97,752.92. The trade was a 50.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Heritage Financial

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HFWA. Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 794.1% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,064 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 945 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. boosted its position in Heritage Financial by 519.0% during the fourth quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 3,553 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $87,000 after buying an additional 2,979 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio grew its stake in shares of Heritage Financial by 475.6% during the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 3,989 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $98,000 after buying an additional 3,296 shares during the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 9.4% in the third quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 5,796 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $126,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in shares of Heritage Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $157,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.30% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Heritage Financial Price Performance

NASDAQ:HFWA traded down $0.34 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $23.66. The stock had a trading volume of 51,167 shares, compared to its average volume of 176,779. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $24.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $23.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $804.09 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.02 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.82. Heritage Financial has a one year low of $16.55 and a one year high of $27.58.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) last announced 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%. Research analysts forecast that Heritage Financial will post 2.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Heritage Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 6th were issued a $0.24 dividend. This is a positive change from Heritage Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 6th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.06%. Heritage Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.42%.

Heritage Financial Company 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.