Legal & General Group Plc Sells 2,691 Shares of Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA)

Legal & General Group Plc reduced its position in shares of Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA) by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 93,023 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,691 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned about 0.27% of Heritage Financial worth $2,279,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in shares of Heritage Financial during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $157,000. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in Heritage Financial during the 4th quarter valued at $166,000. Zions Bancorporation N.A. acquired a new position in Heritage Financial during the fourth quarter worth $168,000. Aspire Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Heritage Financial in the fourth quarter valued at $215,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Heritage Financial during the fourth quarter valued at about $229,000. 78.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Jeffrey J. Deuel sold 7,033 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.66, for a total transaction of $166,400.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 70,906 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,677,635.96. This represents a 9.02 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Donald Hinson sold 3,420 shares of Heritage Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.59, for a total transaction of $80,677.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 42,087 shares in the company, valued at $992,832.33. This trade represents a 7.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 15,311 shares of company stock worth $369,193. Insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Heritage Financial Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:HFWA opened at $22.99 on Friday. Heritage Financial Co. has a 1-year low of $16.55 and a 1-year high of $27.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The stock has a market cap of $781.45 million, a PE ratio of 18.54 and a beta of 0.47. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $23.30 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $24.16.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. As a group, analysts forecast that Heritage Financial Co. will post 2.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Heritage Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 21st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 7th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.18%. Heritage Financial’s payout ratio is currently 77.42%.

Heritage Financial 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.