WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) Upgraded by StockNews.com to Hold Rating

StockNews.com upgraded shares of WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Saturday.

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

WaFd Stock Performance

Shares of WaFd stock opened at $24.54 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $28.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $32.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.31 and a beta of 0.79. WaFd has a fifty-two week low of $23.75 and a fifty-two week high of $38.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04.

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

WaFd Increases Dividend

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On WaFd

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WAFD. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of WaFd by 983.5% during the 4th quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd now owns 1,116 shares of the bank’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 1,013 shares in the last quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC lifted its position in shares of WaFd by 112.7% during the 3rd quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 1,323 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 701 shares during the period. Harbour Investments Inc. boosted its stake in WaFd by 29.6% during the fourth quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 1,752 shares of the bank’s stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in WaFd by 68.4% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,000 shares of the bank’s stock worth $70,000 after purchasing an additional 812 shares during the period. Finally, US Bancorp DE increased its stake in WaFd by 136.7% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,638 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $117,000 after purchasing an additional 2,101 shares in the last quarter. 83.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About WaFd

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.