WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) Sets New 52-Week High – Here’s What Happened

WaFd, Inc. (NASDAQ:WAFD)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $39.48 and last traded at $39.4650, with a volume of 365638 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $38.39.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

WaFd Stock Up 2.5%

The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $36.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $33.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 0.97. The company has a market cap of $2.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.85 and a beta of 0.83.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 17th. The bank reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $197.66 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $190.51 million. WaFd had a net margin of 18.25% and a return on equity of 8.94%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.17 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that WaFd, Inc. will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WaFd Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 22nd were paid a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 22nd. WaFd’s payout ratio is presently 35.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Kim E. Robison sold 22,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.28, for a total transaction of $776,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 116,099 shares in the company, valued at $4,095,972.72. This represents a 15.93% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 1.49% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of WaFd

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Assetmark Inc. boosted its position in WaFd by 3,620.0% during the first quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 930 shares of the bank’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 905 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its stake in shares of WaFd by 42.8% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,174 shares of the bank’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 352 shares during the last quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC boosted its holdings in shares of WaFd by 57.6% during the 2nd quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 1,327 shares of the bank’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 485 shares during the period. Danske Bank A S acquired a new position in WaFd in the 3rd quarter valued at about $51,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in WaFd by 712.4% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,901 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 1,667 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.71% of the company’s stock.

WaFd Company Profile

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.