Royce & Associates LP Decreases Position in WaFd, Inc (NASDAQ:WAFD)

Royce & Associates LP decreased its stake in WaFd, Inc (NASDAQ:WAFD) by 35.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 21,058 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 11,605 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP’s holdings in WaFd were worth $679,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of WaFd by 5.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,969,790 shares of the bank’s stock worth $138,347,000 after acquiring an additional 195,845 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of WaFd by 10.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,759,135 shares of the bank’s stock worth $61,318,000 after acquiring an additional 159,750 shares in the last quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP lifted its stake in shares of WaFd by 21.5% in the third quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 1,432,523 shares of the bank’s stock worth $49,923,000 after acquiring an additional 253,044 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of WaFd by 7.4% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,225,248 shares of the bank’s stock worth $42,700,000 after acquiring an additional 84,155 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of WaFd by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 736,564 shares of the bank’s stock worth $23,747,000 after acquiring an additional 28,849 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.71% of the company’s stock.

WaFd Trading Down 2.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ WAFD opened at $27.66 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $29.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $33.05. WaFd, Inc has a 52-week low of $25.79 and a 52-week high of $38.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.75 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05.

WaFd Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.90%. This is a boost from WaFd’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. WaFd’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.77%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on WAFD. StockNews.com upgraded WaFd from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Piper Sandler cut their price target on WaFd from $37.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $38.00 price target on shares of WaFd in a research note on Friday, January 17th. DA Davidson cut WaFd from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $35.00 to $32.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on WaFd from $42.00 to $34.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $33.75.

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.