Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Takes Position in WaFd, Inc. $WAFD

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC bought a new stake in shares of WaFd, Inc. (NASDAQ:WAFD) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 34,332 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $1,317,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of WAFD. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in WaFd by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,980,089 shares of the bank’s stock worth $159,514,000 after acquiring an additional 26,000 shares in the last quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP boosted its position in shares of WaFd by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 1,557,436 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $49,885,000 after purchasing an additional 8,039 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of WaFd by 11.8% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,375,110 shares of the bank’s stock worth $41,652,000 after purchasing an additional 145,646 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in shares of WaFd by 28.1% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 905,863 shares of the bank’s stock worth $28,444,000 after purchasing an additional 198,728 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of WaFd by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 712,302 shares of the bank’s stock worth $22,815,000 after purchasing an additional 38,376 shares in the last quarter. 83.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

WaFd Price Performance

Shares of WAFD opened at $37.94 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $37.37 and its 200-day moving average is $34.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The company has a market capitalization of $2.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.97 and a beta of 0.84. WaFd, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $26.31 and a fifty-two week high of $39.49.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 17th. The bank reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.82 by ($0.01). WaFd had a return on equity of 8.98% and a net margin of 18.47%.The company had revenue of $205.52 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $199.56 million. Equities research analysts expect that WaFd, Inc. will post 3.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WaFd Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 21st. WaFd’s payout ratio is currently 34.07%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WAFD has been the subject of several recent research reports. DA Davidson increased their target price on shares of WaFd from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of WaFd from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on WaFd from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on WaFd from $30.50 to $36.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered WaFd from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, WaFd has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $37.00.

WaFd 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.