WaFd, Inc. (NASDAQ:WAFD) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of WaFd, Inc. (NASDAQ:WAFD) have received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the five ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $32.00.

WAFD has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on WaFd from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Wall Street Zen cut WaFd from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, October 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of WaFd in a research report on Monday, December 29th.

WaFd Trading Down 1.6%

Shares of WAFD opened at $32.97 on Friday. WaFd has a fifty-two week low of $23.75 and a fifty-two week high of $33.92. The firm has a market cap of $2.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.49 and a beta of 0.86. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $31.99 and a 200-day moving average price of $30.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 0.96.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The bank reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter. The company had revenue of $187.62 million for the quarter. WaFd had a net margin of 16.02% and a return on equity of 8.40%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that WaFd will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current year.

WaFd Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 5th. Investors of record on Friday, November 21st were paid a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 21st. WaFd’s payout ratio is presently 40.91%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Brent J. Beardall purchased 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 3rd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $16.85 per share, with a total value of $50,550.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 6,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $101,100. This represents a 100.00% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.49% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On WaFd

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its stake in shares of WaFd by 42.8% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,174 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 352 shares during the last quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC increased its holdings in WaFd by 57.6% during the 2nd quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 1,327 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 485 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its holdings in WaFd by 604.5% in the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,423 shares of the bank’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 1,221 shares during the period. Danske Bank A S purchased a new stake in WaFd in the third quarter worth $51,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in WaFd by 36.0% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,837 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 486 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.71% of the company’s stock.

About WaFd

Washington Federal, Inc, doing business as WaFd Bank, is a publicly traded bank holding company headquartered in Seattle, Washington. Through its subsidiary, WaFd Bank, the company provides a range of banking and financial services to individuals, small-to-medium enterprises, and commercial clients. Established in 1917 as Ballard Savings & Loan in Seattle, the institution expanded over decades to serve customers across the Western United States under the Washington Federal name and has operated as a public company since the early 1980s.

WaFd Bank’s core offerings encompass deposit accounts such as checking, savings, money market, and certificates of deposit, alongside consumer and commercial lending products.