Zacks Research Brokers Increase Earnings Estimates for WaFd

WaFd, Inc. (NASDAQ:WAFD) – Research analysts at Zacks Research raised their Q1 2028 earnings per share estimates for shares of WaFd in a research report issued on Tuesday, June 23rd. Zacks Research analyst Team now expects that the bank will earn $0.86 per share for the quarter, up from their previous estimate of $0.85. Zacks Research has a “Strong-Buy” rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for WaFd’s current full-year earnings is $3.27 per share.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 17th. The bank reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $197.66 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $190.51 million. WaFd had a return on equity of 8.94% and a net margin of 18.25%.During the same period last year, the company earned $0.17 EPS.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on WAFD. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on WaFd from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on WaFd from $30.50 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of WaFd from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $34.80.

WaFd Trading Up 1.3%

WAFD stock opened at $37.26 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. WaFd has a twelve month low of $26.31 and a twelve month high of $38.59. The company has a market cap of $2.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.18 and a beta of 0.84. The business has a fifty day moving average of $35.37 and a 200-day moving average of $33.40.

Institutional Trading of WaFd

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in WAFD. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in WaFd by 3,620.0% during the first quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 930 shares of the bank’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 905 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its holdings in shares of WaFd by 42.8% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,174 shares of the bank’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 352 shares in the last quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC raised its position in shares of WaFd by 57.6% during the second quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 1,327 shares of the bank’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 485 shares during the period. Danske Bank A S acquired a new stake in shares of WaFd during the third quarter worth about $51,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of WaFd by 712.4% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,901 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 1,667 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.71% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at WaFd

In other news, EVP Kim E. Robison sold 22,000 shares of WaFd stock in a transaction 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 $4,095,972.72. This trade represents a 15.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.49% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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 issued a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. WaFd’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.29%.

About WaFd

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.