WaFd, Inc (NASDAQ:WAFD) Short Interest Update

WaFd, Inc (NASDAQ:WAFD) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,850,000 shares, a growth of 20.8% from the March 31st total of 2,360,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 604,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.7 days. Currently, 3.5% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Institutional Trading of WaFd

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd lifted its position in WaFd by 983.5% in the fourth quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd now owns 1,116 shares of the bank’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 1,013 shares during the period. Harbour Investments Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of WaFd by 29.6% during the 4th quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 1,752 shares of the bank’s stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the period. TD Private Client Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of WaFd by 35.2% during the 1st quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 2,002 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 521 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in WaFd by 68.4% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,000 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $70,000 after acquiring an additional 812 shares during the period. Finally, US Bancorp DE raised its position in WaFd by 136.7% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,638 shares of the bank’s stock worth $117,000 after purchasing an additional 2,101 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.71% of the company’s stock.

WaFd Stock Up 1.7 %

WAFD opened at $29.08 on Friday. WaFd has a 1-year low of $23.75 and a 1-year high of $38.62. The business has a 50 day moving average of $27.88 and a 200-day moving average of $31.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.40 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The bank reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $179.79 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $184.17 million. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that WaFd will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current year.

WaFd Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a $0.27 dividend. This is a boost from WaFd’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.71%. WaFd’s dividend payout ratio is 40.75%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on WAFD. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on WaFd from $37.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. DA Davidson cut WaFd from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $35.00 to $32.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $29.00 price target on shares of WaFd in a research report on Monday, April 14th. StockNews.com raised shares of WaFd from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, April 12th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of WaFd from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $30.50.

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.