WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) Rating Increased to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report published on Saturday morning.

WAFD has been the subject of several other reports. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $38.00 price target on shares of WaFd in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of WaFd from $42.00 to $34.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of WaFd from $37.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, DA Davidson downgraded shares of 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 report on Thursday, February 6th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $33.75.

WaFd Price Performance

Shares of WAFD opened at $24.54 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $28.42 and its 200-day moving average is $32.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.00 billion, a PE ratio of 11.31 and a beta of 0.79. WaFd has a fifty-two week low of $23.75 and a fifty-two week high of $38.62.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The bank reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.05. WaFd had a net margin of 12.66% and a return on equity of 8.78%. The firm had revenue of $179.79 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $184.17 million. Equities analysts forecast that WaFd will post 2.56 EPS for the current year.

WaFd Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.40%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. This is an increase from WaFd’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. WaFd’s payout ratio is 49.77%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On WaFd

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of WAFD. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of WaFd by 983.5% during the 4th quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd now owns 1,116 shares of the bank’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 1,013 shares during the period. McIlrath & Eck LLC raised its position in WaFd by 112.7% during the third quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 1,323 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 701 shares in the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. lifted its stake in WaFd by 29.6% during the fourth quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 1,752 shares of the bank’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of WaFd by 68.4% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,000 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 812 shares in the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE increased its stake in shares of WaFd by 136.7% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,638 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $117,000 after purchasing an additional 2,101 shares during the last quarter. 83.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.