WaFd’s (WAFD) “Equal Weight” Rating Reaffirmed at Stephens

Stephens restated their equal weight rating on shares of WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) in a research note published on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $38.00 target price on the bank’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also commented on the company. DA Davidson increased their price objective on WaFd from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. StockNews.com raised shares of WaFd from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $40.00 price target on shares of WaFd in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of WaFd from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $38.50.

WaFd Price Performance

WAFD stock opened at $30.25 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $34.38 and a 200-day moving average of $34.33. The company has a market cap of $2.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.20 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. WaFd has a 12-month low of $25.78 and a 12-month high of $38.62.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The bank reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.01. WaFd had a net margin of 13.97% and a return on equity of 9.44%. The business had revenue of $389.98 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $190.43 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.72 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that WaFd will post 2.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WaFd Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.44%. WaFd’s dividend payout ratio is presently 41.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Ryan Mauer sold 12,132 shares of WaFd stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.33, for a total value of $404,359.56. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 100,376 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,345,532.08. The trade was a 10.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 1.46% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On WaFd

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in WaFd by 8.0% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 125,241 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,579,000 after buying an additional 9,295 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its position in shares of WaFd by 24.1% during the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 139,530 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,988,000 after acquiring an additional 27,100 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its position in shares of WaFd by 282.6% during the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 36,079 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,019,000 after acquiring an additional 26,648 shares in the last quarter. Profund Advisors LLC bought a new position in WaFd during the second quarter worth $205,000. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its holdings in WaFd by 6.8% in the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 148,684 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,249,000 after purchasing an additional 9,446 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.71% of the company’s stock.

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.