WaFd, Inc. (NASDAQ:WAFD) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

WaFd, Inc. (NASDAQ:WAFD) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the six ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $34.80.

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on WAFD shares. Weiss Ratings raised shares of WaFd from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Zacks Research raised shares of WaFd from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of WaFd from $30.50 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of WaFd from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Kim E. Robison sold 22,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 116,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,095,972.72. This represents a 15.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.49% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of WaFd

Several institutional investors and hedge funds 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 valued at $10,689,000 after purchasing an additional 266,891 shares during the last quarter. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP lifted its stake in WaFd by 373.8% during the fourth quarter. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP now owns 287,947 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $9,223,000 after purchasing an additional 227,174 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in WaFd by 28.1% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 905,863 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $28,444,000 after purchasing an additional 198,728 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in WaFd by 52.0% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 448,716 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $14,372,000 after purchasing an additional 153,556 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in WaFd by 11.8% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,375,110 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $41,652,000 after purchasing an additional 145,646 shares during the last quarter. 83.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

WaFd Trading Up 1.0%

WaFd stock opened at $36.96 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. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $34.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $33.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.08 and a beta of 0.84. WaFd has a 52-week low of $26.31 and a 52-week high of $38.59.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 17th. The bank reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $197.66 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $190.51 million. WaFd had a net margin of 18.25% and a return on equity of 8.94%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.17 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that WaFd will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current year.

WaFd Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 5th. Investors of record on Friday, May 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. WaFd’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.29%.

WaFd Company Profile

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.