LSV Asset Management Trims Stock Holdings in WaFd, Inc (NASDAQ:WAFD)

LSV Asset Management decreased its position in WaFd, Inc (NASDAQ:WAFD) by 0.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 322,300 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 1,600 shares during the quarter. LSV Asset Management owned approximately 0.40% of WaFd worth $10,391,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in WAFD. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of WaFd by 152.9% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 469,704 shares of the bank’s stock worth $15,143,000 after acquiring an additional 283,953 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in WaFd by 15.3% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,774,081 shares of the bank’s stock worth $57,196,000 after purchasing an additional 234,977 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of WaFd during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $6,539,000. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of WaFd by 5.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,969,790 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $138,347,000 after purchasing an additional 195,845 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of WaFd by 63.6% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 493,501 shares of the bank’s stock worth $15,910,000 after purchasing an additional 191,855 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.71% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $38.00 price objective on shares of WaFd in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on WaFd from $42.00 to $34.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of WaFd from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. DA Davidson cut shares of 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 report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their target price 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. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, WaFd currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $33.75.

WaFd Trading Up 0.2 %

WaFd stock opened at $24.54 on Friday. WaFd, Inc has a one year low of $23.75 and a one year high of $38.62. The business’s fifty day moving average is $28.42 and its 200 day moving average is $32.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.00 billion, a PE ratio of 11.31 and a beta of 0.79.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The bank reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $179.79 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $184.17 million. WaFd had a net margin of 12.66% and a return on equity of 8.78%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that WaFd, Inc will post 2.56 EPS for the current year.

WaFd Increases Dividend

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

WaFd Company Profile

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.