As of its most recent Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing on May 23, 2023, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans reduced its holding in financial services provider Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA) by 18.1%. The firm now holds ownership of 36,008 shares, having sold 7,937 shares during the fourth quarter, representing roughly 0.10% of Heritage Financial’s worth valued at $1,103,000.
In addition to their position reduction, Heritage Financial recently announced a quarterly dividend payout with a record date of Thursday, May 4th. Shareholders who held stock on this day received a dividend payout of $0.22 per share on Thursday, May 18th. This results in an annualized dividend payment of $0.88 per share and a dividend yield of 5.29%. As such, the firm’s current Dividend Payout Ratio (DPR) currently stands at 37.77%.
Recent disclosure filings also revealed company insiders purchasing stock in Heritage Financial Co., with Director Brian Charneski acquiring a total of 5,000 shares in two separate transactions on May 4th at an average cost of $15.88 per share for an accumulated value of $79,400 and Director Jeffrey S. Lyon purchasing another total of 1,750 shares on April 26th at an average price of $17.36 per share for an accumulated value of $30,380. After completing these purchases both directors now hold significant stakes in the organization’s stock valued at over hundreds of thousands dollars respectively.
Overall it is clear that there has been much activity regarding the financial health and direction of Heritage Financial Co., with substantial trades being made by major institutional shareholders as well as company insiders showing confidence through stock acquisitions during the past month alone. Investors should continue to watch closely for further announcements about the organization’s future plans.
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Heritage Financial Co. Sees Changes in Stakes as Institutional Investors Make Moves Amid Fluctuating Stocks and Varied Analyst Reports
[stock_market_widget type=”chart” template=”basic” color=”#3946CE” assets=”HFWA” range=”1mo” interval=”1d” axes=”true” cursor=”true” range_selector=”true” api=”yf”]May 23, 2023 – Heritage Financial Co. has recently seen changes in their stakes as a number of institutional investors have made significant moves to either reduce or add to their positions. This comes as the financial services provider’s stock has experienced fluctuating rates over time and multiple research analysts have issued reports on the company.
Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new stake in Heritage Financial worth approximately $21,625,000 during the first quarter. EJF Capital LLC also added to their position by acquiring a new stake worth around $6,510,000 in the third quarter. Meanwhile, Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. lifted its position in Heritage Financial by 85.7% during Q3 and Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings by 10.3% in Q1.
The most significant change came from Assenagon Asset Management S.A., who increased their holdings by a massive 1,634.6% during Q4 and now own 168,011 shares of Heritage Financial’s stock valued at $5,148,000.
Together, institutional investors and hedge funds currently own 78.91% of the company’s stock.
As for research analyst reports on the company’s status and performance, Piper Sandler lowered Heritage Financial’s price target from $29.00 to $25.00 while Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut its rating from “outperform” to “market perform” and dropped their price target from $31.00 to $23.00.
TheStreet gave Heritage Financial a “c+” rating – down from “b-” previously – and StockNews.com gave it a “sell” rating on Thursday (May 18).
Heritage Financial’s shares opened at $16.65 on Tuesday (May 23). As per recent data analysis conducted prior to this writing; the company has reported a quick ratio of 0.74 while possessing a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The firm’s 12-month low stands at $14.85 with a high of $34.34, and has a market cap of $583.75 million and P/E ratio of 7.15.
With this recent flurry of changes amongst institutional investors and varied reports from research analysts, the future is uncertain for Heritage Financial Co.’s position as a financial services provider in the market. Only time will tell how these moves affect its performance in the coming quarters, but the situation is certainly worth monitoring closely.
