Donald Smith & CO. Inc. Purchases New Stake in Waterstone Financial, Inc. $WSBF

Donald Smith & CO. Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Waterstone Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBF) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 127,770 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,115,000. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. owned approximately 0.69% of Waterstone Financial at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Teton Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Waterstone Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $920,000. Beese Fulmer Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Waterstone Financial during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $166,000. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV acquired a new stake in shares of Waterstone Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $165,000. Larson Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Waterstone Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Waterstone Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. 62.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Mark Raymond Gerke sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.34, for a total value of $183,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 30,034 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $550,823.56. This represents a 24.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 6.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WSBF has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Waterstone Financial in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Waterstone Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy”.

Waterstone Financial Trading Up 2.1%

NASDAQ:WSBF opened at $19.36 on Thursday. Waterstone Financial, Inc. has a 1 year low of $13.08 and a 1 year high of $19.58. The stock has a market cap of $349.45 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.66 and a beta of 0.74. The business has a fifty day moving average of $18.38 and a 200-day moving average of $17.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.29.

Waterstone Financial (NASDAQ:WSBF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The savings and loans company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.66 by ($0.32). Waterstone Financial had a return on equity of 8.48% and a net margin of 14.28%.The business had revenue of $35.69 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $65.80 million.

Waterstone Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 8th were paid a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 8th. This is a positive change from Waterstone Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. Waterstone Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 40.96%.

About Waterstone Financial

Waterstone Financial, Inc is a bank holding company based in Glendale, Wisconsin, that provides a broad range of financial services to individuals, businesses and institutions. Its primary operations are conducted through its wholly owned subsidiary, Waterstone Bank, which offers deposit products, loan facilities and treasury management services. The company focuses on delivering relationship-based banking solutions tailored to the needs of small and medium-sized enterprises as well as retail customers.

In addition to traditional commercial and consumer banking, Waterstone Financial supports its clients with specialized financing, including real estate, equipment and asset-based lending.