Susquehanna International Group LLP Lowers Position in WaFd, Inc. $WAFD

Susquehanna International Group LLP trimmed its stake in shares of WaFd, Inc. (NASDAQ:WAFD) by 71.4% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 18,589 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 46,377 shares during the period. Susquehanna International Group LLP’s holdings in WaFd were worth $713,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund raised its stake in WaFd by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 18,056 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $578,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of WaFd by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 15,162 shares of the bank’s stock worth $486,000 after buying an additional 304 shares in the last quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of WaFd by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,720 shares of the bank’s stock worth $274,000 after buying an additional 323 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of WaFd by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 9,539 shares of the bank’s stock worth $306,000 after buying an additional 350 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its holdings in shares of WaFd by 42.8% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,174 shares of the bank’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 352 shares during the last quarter. 83.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on WAFD shares. DA Davidson upped their price objective on WaFd from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Zacks Research cut WaFd from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of WaFd in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $37.00.

WaFd Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WAFD opened at $35.76 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $37.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $34.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98. WaFd, Inc. has a one year low of $26.31 and a one year high of $39.49. The firm has a market cap of $2.65 billion, a PE ratio of 11.28 and a beta of 0.84.

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

WaFd Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 4th. Investors of record on Friday, August 21st will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 21st. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. WaFd’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.07%.

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.