Azora Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of WaFd, Inc. (NASDAQ:WAFD – Free Report) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 75,357 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $2,414,000.
Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL purchased a new stake in shares of WaFd during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,387,000. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of WaFd by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,077,059 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $62,914,000 after acquiring an additional 40,569 shares during the last quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D purchased a new stake in shares of WaFd during the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,117,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of WaFd by 15.4% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 338,608 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $10,256,000 after acquiring an additional 45,228 shares during the last quarter. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of WaFd by 14.3% during the 3rd quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 1,100,312 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $33,328,000 after acquiring an additional 137,525 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.71% of the company’s stock.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
A number of analysts have recently issued reports on WAFD shares. Zacks Research raised shares of WaFd from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of WaFd from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of WaFd from $30.50 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of WaFd from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $34.80.
WaFd Price Performance
NASDAQ WAFD opened at $36.21 on Thursday. WaFd, Inc. has a 12 month low of $26.31 and a 12 month high of $38.59. The stock has a market cap of $2.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.83 and a beta of 0.84. The company’s 50 day moving average is $35.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $33.26. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14.
WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 17th. The bank reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $197.66 million for 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 last year, the business posted $0.17 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that WaFd, Inc. will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current year.
WaFd Announces Dividend
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 22nd were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. WaFd’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.29%.
Insider Activity
In other news, EVP Kim E. Robison sold 22,000 shares of WaFd stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.28, for a total transaction of $776,160.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 116,099 shares in the company, valued at $4,095,972.72. This trade represents a 15.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 1.49% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
WaFd 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.
Read More
- Five stocks we like better than WaFd
- Cheap Thrills: Why These 3 Entertainment Stocks Are Soaring
- CoreWeave Insider Sales Look Big, But Should Investors Worry?
- Critical Metals: Sizing Up This Tiny Rare-Earth Stock Making Big Moves
- Meta and Cloud Computing: Real Potential, or a Shot in the Dark?
Want to see what other hedge funds are holding WAFD? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for WaFd, Inc. (NASDAQ:WAFD – Free Report).
Receive News & Ratings for WaFd Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for WaFd and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
