Waterstone Financial (NASDAQ:WSBF) Cut to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Waterstone Financial (NASDAQ:WSBF) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Sunday.

Separately, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Waterstone Financial in a research note on Monday, December 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy”.

Waterstone Financial Stock Performance

NASDAQ WSBF opened at $17.00 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $313.82 million, a PE ratio of 12.78 and a beta of 0.82. Waterstone Financial has a 52-week low of $11.61 and a 52-week high of $17.22. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $15.53 and a 200 day simple moving average of $14.67.

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

Waterstone Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 8th were given a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 8th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. Waterstone Financial’s payout ratio is presently 45.11%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Waterstone Financial

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings 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 worth $26,000 after buying an additional 1,590 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Waterstone Financial during the second quarter valued at $28,000. Larson Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Waterstone Financial during the third quarter valued at $30,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Waterstone Financial by 297.4% during 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 purchased a new stake in shares of Waterstone Financial in the 2nd quarter worth about $138,000. Institutional investors own 62.71% of the company’s stock.

Waterstone Financial Company Profile

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.