WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Thursday.

A number of other analysts also recently commented on WAFD. DA Davidson downgraded WaFd from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $35.00 to $32.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $38.00 target price on shares of WaFd in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of WaFd from $37.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of WaFd from $42.00 to $34.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $33.75.

WaFd Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of WAFD stock opened at $28.76 on Thursday. WaFd has a 52-week low of $25.78 and a 52-week high of $38.62. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $30.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $33.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04. The company has a market capitalization of $2.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.25 and a beta of 0.85.

WaFd Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. This is a positive change from WaFd’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. WaFd’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.77%.

Institutional Trading of WaFd

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WAFD. Amalgamated Bank lifted its position in shares of WaFd by 13.7% during the third quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 23,493 shares of the bank’s stock worth $819,000 after acquiring an additional 2,834 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of WaFd by 28.6% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 428,504 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $14,933,000 after purchasing an additional 95,251 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in WaFd by 60.1% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,904 shares of the bank’s stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 715 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in WaFd by 35.1% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,797 shares of the bank’s stock worth $97,000 after purchasing an additional 726 shares during the period. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc purchased a new position in WaFd during the 3rd quarter valued at about $247,000. 83.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About WaFd

WaFd, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Washington Federal Bank that provides lending, depository, insurance, and other banking services in the United States. The company offers deposit products, including business and personal checking accounts, and term certificates of deposit, as well as money market accounts and passbook savings accounts.