WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) Sees Large Volume Increase – Still a Buy?

WaFd, Inc. (NASDAQ:WAFD) saw an uptick in trading volume on Tuesday . Approximately 418,670 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 31% from the previous session’s volume of 605,402 shares.The stock last traded at $35.6260 and had previously closed at $36.30.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings cut shares of WaFd from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday. DA Davidson raised 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. Finally, Zacks Research cut WaFd from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, WaFd currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $37.00.

WaFd Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. The company has a market capitalization of $2.58 billion, a PE ratio of 11.03 and a beta of 0.83. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $37.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $35.10.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) last announced its earnings results on Friday, July 17th. The bank reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.82 by ($0.01). WaFd had a net margin of 18.47% and a return on equity of 8.98%. The business had revenue of $205.52 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $199.56 million. On average, equities analysts predict that WaFd, Inc. will post 3.23 EPS for the current year.

WaFd Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 21st were given a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 21st. WaFd’s dividend payout ratio is 34.07%.

Institutional Trading of WaFd

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in WaFd in the 1st quarter worth about $1,055,000. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in WaFd by 28.1% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 905,863 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $28,444,000 after buying an additional 198,728 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in WaFd in the 2nd quarter worth about $413,410,000. Jupiter Topco LLC bought a new position in WaFd in the 2nd quarter worth about $1,315,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company purchased a new position in shares of WaFd during the second quarter worth approximately $1,417,000. 83.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.