SG Americas Securities LLC Has $751,000 Stock Holdings in WaFd, Inc. $WAFD

SG Americas Securities LLC decreased its holdings in shares of WaFd, Inc. (NASDAQ:WAFD) by 55.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 23,926 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 29,719 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in WaFd were worth $751,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Baron Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in WaFd by 3.8% during the first quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,720 shares of the bank’s stock worth $274,000 after acquiring an additional 323 shares during the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV bought a new position in shares of WaFd during the fourth quarter worth approximately $231,000. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new stake in WaFd during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,368,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in WaFd by 399.4% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 333,712 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $10,689,000 after purchasing an additional 266,891 shares during the period. Finally, Man Group plc bought a new stake in WaFd in the 4th quarter valued at $277,000. Institutional investors own 83.71% of the company’s stock.

WaFd Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WAFD opened at $38.00 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $36.13 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $33.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.81 billion, a PE ratio of 12.42 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.97. WaFd, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $26.31 and a fifty-two week high of $39.35.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 17th. The bank reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $197.66 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $190.51 million. WaFd had a return on equity of 8.94% and a net margin of 18.25%.During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.17 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that WaFd, Inc. will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WaFd Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 22nd were issued a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. WaFd’s dividend payout ratio is 35.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling at WaFd

In other news, EVP Kim E. Robison sold 22,000 shares of WaFd stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.28, for a total transaction of $776,160.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 116,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,095,972.72. This trade represents a 15.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.49% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on WAFD shares. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on WaFd from $30.50 to $36.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Weiss Ratings raised WaFd from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of WaFd from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of WaFd from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $34.80.

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.