WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) Hits New 12-Month High Following Dividend Announcement

WaFd, Inc. (NASDAQ:WAFD) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday following a dividend announcement from the company. The stock traded as high as $38.59 and last traded at $35.1450, with a volume of 15339 shares. The stock had previously closed at $35.17.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Friday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 22nd. WaFd’s payout ratio is 35.29%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on WAFD. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $34.00 price objective on shares of WaFd in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on WaFd from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of WaFd from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Weiss Ratings upgraded WaFd from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of WaFd from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, February 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $34.80.

WaFd Stock Down 0.6%

The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $32.81 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $32.32. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The firm has a market cap of $2.58 billion, a PE ratio of 11.43 and a beta of 0.85.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 17th. The bank reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.09. WaFd had a return on equity of 8.94% and a net margin of 18.25%.The firm had revenue of $197.66 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $190.51 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.17 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that WaFd, Inc. will post 3.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at WaFd

In other news, EVP Kim E. Robison sold 22,000 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 116,099 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,095,972.72. This trade represents a 15.93% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 1.49% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WAFD. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in WaFd by 399.4% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 333,712 shares of the bank’s stock worth $10,689,000 after purchasing an additional 266,891 shares during the last quarter. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP raised its holdings in shares of WaFd by 373.8% during the 4th quarter. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP now owns 287,947 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $9,223,000 after buying an additional 227,174 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in WaFd by 52.0% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 448,716 shares of the bank’s stock worth $14,372,000 after buying an additional 153,556 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in WaFd by 11.8% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,375,110 shares of the bank’s stock worth $41,652,000 after buying an additional 145,646 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its position in WaFd by 1,533.5% during the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 146,578 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,440,000 after acquiring an additional 137,605 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.71% of the company’s stock.

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.