LSV Asset Management Lowers Position in WaFd, Inc (NASDAQ:WAFD)

LSV Asset Management lessened its stake in shares of WaFd, Inc (NASDAQ:WAFD) by 0.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 322,300 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 1,600 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management’s holdings in WaFd were worth $10,391,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of WaFd during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,766,000. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in WaFd by 33.3% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 161,958 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,643,000 after purchasing an additional 40,499 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of WaFd by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 447,621 shares of the bank’s stock worth $14,431,000 after purchasing an additional 19,117 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of WaFd by 6.7% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 26,463 shares of the bank’s stock worth $954,000 after purchasing an additional 1,669 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its position in shares of WaFd by 20.0% during the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 18,574 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $599,000 after purchasing an additional 3,100 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.71% of the company’s stock.

WaFd Price Performance

NASDAQ:WAFD opened at $24.54 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $28.42 and its 200 day moving average is $32.03. WaFd, Inc has a 12 month low of $23.75 and a 12 month high of $38.62. The company has a market capitalization of $2.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.31 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 11th. The bank reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.05. WaFd had a return on equity of 8.78% and a net margin of 12.66%. The business had revenue of $179.79 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $184.17 million. On average, equities research analysts forecast that WaFd, Inc will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WaFd Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.40%. This is a positive change from WaFd’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. WaFd’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.77%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on WAFD. DA Davidson lowered WaFd from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $35.00 to $32.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on WaFd from $42.00 to $34.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on WaFd from $37.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. StockNews.com upgraded WaFd from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $38.00 target price on shares of WaFd in a report on Friday, January 17th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $33.75.

WaFd Profile

WaFd, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Washington Federal Bank that provides lending, depository, insurance, and other banking services in the United States. The company offers deposit products, including business and personal checking accounts, and term certificates of deposit, as well as money market accounts and passbook savings accounts.