WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) Reaches New 52-Week High – Time to Buy?

WaFd, Inc. (NASDAQ:WAFD)’s share price reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $40.00 and last traded at $36.21, with a volume of 1934 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $36.29.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WAFD has been the subject of several recent research reports. Zacks Research downgraded shares of WaFd from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of WaFd in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price objective on WaFd from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, WaFd currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $37.00.

WaFd Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98. The stock has a market cap of $2.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.43 and a beta of 0.84. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $37.41 and its 200-day moving average price is $34.93.

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

WaFd Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 21st will be paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 21st. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. WaFd’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.07%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On WaFd

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in WaFd during the second quarter valued at about $413,410,000. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its position in WaFd by 3,626.3% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 3,409,673 shares of the bank’s stock worth $130,829,000 after acquiring an additional 3,318,170 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in WaFd in the second quarter valued at about $34,655,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in WaFd in the second quarter valued at about $26,489,000. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC bought a new position in shares of WaFd during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $13,371,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.71% of the company’s stock.

About WaFd

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.