WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Sunday morning.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on WaFd from $33.50 to $30.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of WaFd from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $34.00 target price on shares of WaFd in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of WaFd in a report on Monday, December 29th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $32.90.

WaFd Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:WAFD opened at $33.04 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.95. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $32.77 and its 200-day moving average is $31.25. The company has a market cap of $2.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.43 and a beta of 0.86. WaFd has a 52-week low of $23.75 and a 52-week high of $34.29.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 16th. The bank reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by ($0.01). WaFd had a return on equity of 8.67% and a net margin of 17.45%.The company had revenue of $188.32 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $193.36 million. Equities research analysts predict that WaFd will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current year.

WaFd Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 13th will be issued 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 is Friday, February 13th. WaFd’s payout ratio is presently 37.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other WaFd news, CEO Brent J. Beardall bought 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 3rd. The shares were bought at an average price of $16.85 per share, for a total transaction of $50,550.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 6,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $101,100. This trade represents a 100.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Cathy E. Cooper sold 5,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.77, for a total value of $178,981.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 94,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,199,876.35. This trade represents a 5.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 1.49% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On WaFd

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WAFD. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of WaFd by 2.0% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,077,059 shares of the bank’s stock worth $62,914,000 after acquiring an additional 40,569 shares during the last quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP increased its holdings in shares of WaFd by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 1,557,436 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $49,885,000 after purchasing an additional 8,039 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in WaFd by 11.8% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,375,110 shares of the bank’s stock worth $41,652,000 after purchasing an additional 145,646 shares during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in WaFd by 14.3% during the 3rd quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 1,100,312 shares of the bank’s stock worth $33,328,000 after buying an additional 137,525 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in WaFd by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 712,302 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $22,815,000 after buying an additional 38,376 shares during the last quarter. 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.