Waterstone Financial (NASDAQ:WSBF) Rating Increased to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Waterstone Financial (NASDAQ:WSBF) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report released on Wednesday morning.

Waterstone Financial Price Performance

WSBF stock opened at $13.89 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $269.09 million, a P/E ratio of 13.75 and a beta of 0.64. Waterstone Financial has a twelve month low of $10.60 and a twelve month high of $16.86. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $13.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $14.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64.

Waterstone Financial (NASDAQ:WSBF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The savings and loans company reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter. Waterstone Financial had a return on equity of 5.75% and a net margin of 9.23%.

Waterstone Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 8th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.32%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, January 8th. Waterstone Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 59.41%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Waterstone Financial news, Director Stephen J. Schmidt sold 2,195 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.76, for a total value of $30,203.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 70,078 shares in the company, valued at approximately $964,273.28. This represents a 3.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Patrick S. Lawton sold 37,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.03, for a total value of $526,125.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 49,131 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $689,307.93. The trade was a 43.29 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 67,147 shares of company stock worth $936,511. 8.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its position in shares of Waterstone Financial by 27.8% in the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 9,441 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $127,000 after buying an additional 2,055 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new position in shares of Waterstone Financial in the fourth quarter valued at $143,000. Quantinno Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Waterstone Financial in the fourth quarter valued at $203,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new position in shares of Waterstone Financial in the third quarter valued at $291,000. Finally, Millennium Management LLC increased its position in shares of Waterstone Financial by 108.7% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 21,882 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $294,000 after buying an additional 11,395 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.71% of the company’s stock.

About Waterstone Financial

Waterstone Financial, Inc operates as a bank holding company for WaterStone Bank SSB that provides various financial services to customers in southeastern Wisconsin, the United States. It operates in two segments, Community Banking and Mortgage Banking. The Community Banking segment offers consumer and business banking products and services, such as deposit and transactional solutions, including checking accounts, online banking and bill pay services, money transfer services, as well as credit, debit, and pre-paid cards; investable funds solutions comprising savings, money market deposits, individual retirement accounts, and certificates of deposit; residential mortgages, home equity loans and lines of credit, personal and installment loans, real estate financing, business loans, and business lines of credit; and fixed and variable annuities, insurance products, and trust and investment management accounts.