Voya Investment Management LLC Buys 6,185 Shares of Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA)

Voya Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA) by 27.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 28,345 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,185 shares during the quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC owned about 0.08% of Heritage Financial worth $694,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Jennison Associates LLC raised its position in Heritage Financial by 26.7% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,206,766 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $54,066,000 after purchasing an additional 465,708 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Heritage Financial by 112.5% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 369,429 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,051,000 after acquiring an additional 195,541 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Heritage Financial by 357.0% during the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 143,913 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,526,000 after acquiring an additional 112,419 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Heritage Financial by 83.3% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 225,948 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,536,000 after acquiring an additional 102,665 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new stake in Heritage Financial in the fourth quarter worth about $1,412,000. 78.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Heritage Financial

In other news, CFO Donald Hinson sold 3,420 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.59, for a total value of $80,677.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 42,087 shares in the company, valued at $992,832.33. This represents a 7.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jeffrey J. Deuel sold 7,033 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.66, for a total transaction of $166,400.78. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 70,906 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,677,635.96. The trade was a 9.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 11,311 shares of company stock valued at $267,473 over the last 90 days. 1.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Heritage Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of Heritage Financial from $27.00 to $26.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their price target on Heritage Financial from $34.00 to $31.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 28th.

Heritage Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:HFWA opened at $23.57 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $23.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $24.24. Heritage Financial Co. has a fifty-two week low of $16.55 and a fifty-two week high of $27.58. The company has a market capitalization of $801.07 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.01 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 (NASDAQ:HFWA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.03. Heritage Financial had a net margin of 13.64% and a return on equity of 7.17%. The company had revenue of $57.59 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $61.74 million. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Heritage Financial Co. will post 2.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Heritage Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 21st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 7th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 7th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.07%. Heritage Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.86%.

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.