WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) Posts Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.05 EPS

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) released its quarterly earnings results on Friday. The bank reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.05, Zacks reports. WaFd had a net margin of 12.66% and a return on equity of 8.78%.

WaFd Price Performance

WAFD stock traded up $0.06 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $24.54. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 546,870 shares, compared to its average volume of 513,905. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. The company’s 50 day moving average is $28.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $32.09. WaFd has a fifty-two week low of $23.75 and a fifty-two week high of $38.62. The stock has a market cap of $2.00 billion, a PE ratio of 11.31 and a beta of 0.79.

WaFd Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on WAFD. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of WaFd from $42.00 to $34.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of WaFd from $37.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. DA Davidson lowered WaFd from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $35.00 to $32.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com cut WaFd from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $38.00 price target on shares of WaFd in a research note on Friday, January 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $33.75.

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.