WaFd, Inc (NASDAQ:WAFD) Short Interest Down 31.2% in October

WaFd, Inc (NASDAQ:WAFD) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,520,000 shares, a decline of 31.2% from the October 15th total of 2,210,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 534,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.8 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Ryan Mauer sold 12,132 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.33, for a total transaction of $404,359.56. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 100,376 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,345,532.08. The trade was a 10.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 2.25% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On WaFd

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Verition Fund Management LLC boosted its holdings in WaFd by 6.4% in the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 68,513 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,388,000 after acquiring an additional 4,131 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in WaFd by 5.9% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 157,962 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,505,000 after acquiring an additional 8,769 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its holdings in WaFd by 15.9% in the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 172,284 shares of the bank’s stock worth $6,004,000 after acquiring an additional 23,600 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its holdings in WaFd by 15.0% in the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 15,445 shares of the bank’s stock worth $538,000 after acquiring an additional 2,018 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FORA Capital LLC bought a new position in WaFd in the third quarter worth approximately $314,000. Institutional investors own 83.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WAFD has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of WaFd from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Stephens upped their price target on WaFd from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $40.00 price objective on shares of WaFd in a research report on Monday, October 21st. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on WaFd from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, StockNews.com raised WaFd from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, WaFd currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $38.00.

WaFd Price Performance

NASDAQ:WAFD traded down $0.19 on Thursday, hitting $36.97. The company had a trading volume of 334,627 shares, compared to its average volume of 448,723. WaFd has a 52 week low of $25.78 and a 52 week high of $38.58. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.87 and a beta of 0.83. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $35.19 and a two-hundred day moving average of $32.25.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The bank reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.01. WaFd had a return on equity of 9.44% and a net margin of 13.97%. The business had revenue of $389.98 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $190.43 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.72 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that WaFd will post 2.83 earnings per share for the current year.

WaFd Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.81%. WaFd’s payout ratio is 41.94%.

About WaFd

WaFd, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Washington Federal Bank that provides lending, depository, insurance, and other banking services in the United States. The company offers deposit products, including business and personal checking accounts, and term certificates of deposit, as well as money market accounts and passbook savings accounts.