Waterstone Financial (NASDAQ:WSBF) Raised to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Waterstone Financial (NASDAQ:WSBF) was upgraded by Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Saturday.

Separately, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Waterstone Financial from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, December 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy”.

Waterstone Financial Trading Down 0.6%

NASDAQ WSBF opened at $16.04 on Friday. Waterstone Financial has a 12 month low of $11.61 and a 12 month high of $16.75. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $15.34 and a 200-day moving average of $14.47. The company has a market cap of $296.10 million, a PE ratio of 12.06 and a beta of 0.82.

Waterstone Financial (NASDAQ:WSBF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The savings and loans company reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $37.04 million for the quarter. Waterstone Financial had a net margin of 12.08% and a return on equity of 6.99%.

Insider Transactions at Waterstone Financial

In other Waterstone Financial news, Director Michael L. Hansen sold 79,872 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.16, for a total transaction of $1,210,859.52. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 8.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Waterstone Financial

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Waterstone Financial by 557.9% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,875 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 1,590 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Waterstone Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Larson Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Waterstone Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its position in shares of Waterstone Financial by 297.4% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 3,187 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 2,385 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gamco Investors INC. ET AL bought a new stake in shares of Waterstone Financial during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $138,000. Institutional investors own 62.71% of the company’s stock.

About Waterstone Financial

Waterstone Financial, Inc operates as a bank holding company for WaterStone Bank SSB that provides various financial services to customers in southeastern Wisconsin, the United States. It operates in two segments, Community Banking and Mortgage Banking. The Community Banking segment offers consumer and business banking products and services, such as deposit and transactional solutions, including checking accounts, online banking and bill pay services, money transfer services, as well as credit, debit, and pre-paid cards; investable funds solutions comprising savings, money market deposits, individual retirement accounts, and certificates of deposit; residential mortgages, home equity loans and lines of credit, personal and installment loans, real estate financing, business loans, and business lines of credit; and fixed and variable annuities, insurance products, and trust and investment management accounts.