WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) Downgraded by Zacks Research to “Hold”

Zacks Research lowered shares of WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Monday morning,Zacks.com reports. Zacks Research also issued estimates for WaFd’s Q1 2028 earnings at $0.86 EPS.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of WaFd from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of WaFd from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their target price on WaFd from $30.50 to $36.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, WaFd presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $34.80.

WaFd Stock Up 1.3%

WAFD stock opened at $37.26 on Monday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $35.37 and its 200 day moving average is $33.40. The stock has a market cap of $2.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.18 and a beta of 0.84. 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 has a 1-year low of $26.31 and a 1-year high of $38.59.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) last announced its earnings results 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. WaFd had a net margin of 18.25% and a return on equity of 8.94%. The business had revenue of $197.66 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $190.51 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.17 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that WaFd will post 3.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WaFd Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 22nd were paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. WaFd’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other WaFd 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 116,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,095,972.72. This trade represents a 15.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.49% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On WaFd

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in WaFd by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,980,089 shares of the bank’s stock worth $159,514,000 after purchasing an additional 26,000 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in WaFd by 2.0% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,077,059 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $62,914,000 after buying an additional 40,569 shares during the period. Systematic Financial Management LP boosted its position in WaFd by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 1,557,436 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $49,885,000 after buying an additional 8,039 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of WaFd by 11.8% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,375,110 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $41,652,000 after buying an additional 145,646 shares during the last quarter. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of WaFd by 14.3% during the third quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 1,100,312 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $33,328,000 after buying an additional 137,525 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.71% of the company’s stock.

WaFd Company 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.