WaFd, Inc. (NASDAQ:WAFD) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

WaFd, Inc. (NASDAQ:WAFD) has been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the five ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $32.00.

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of WaFd in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on WaFd from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded WaFd from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 18th.

Insider Transactions at WaFd

In related news, CEO Brent J. Beardall purchased 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 3rd. The stock was bought at an average price of $16.85 per share, with a total value of $50,550.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 6,000 shares in the company, valued at $101,100. The trade was a 100.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.46% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of WaFd

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in WaFd by 1,576.8% in the 1st quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 683,003 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $19,520,000 after buying an additional 642,270 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of WaFd by 124.3% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,107,097 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $31,641,000 after acquiring an additional 613,596 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership acquired a new position in shares of WaFd during the second quarter valued at approximately $7,666,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of WaFd in the first quarter valued at approximately $5,093,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of WaFd by 9.8% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,948,534 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $55,689,000 after acquiring an additional 174,453 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.71% of the company’s stock.

WaFd Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:WAFD opened at $33.02 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. WaFd has a 12-month low of $23.75 and a 12-month high of $33.81. The business has a 50 day moving average of $31.02 and a two-hundred day moving average of $30.48. The company has a market capitalization of $2.52 billion, a PE ratio of 12.51 and a beta of 0.87.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The bank reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter. WaFd had a net margin of 16.02% and a return on equity of 8.40%. The firm had revenue of $187.62 million during the quarter. As a group, analysts forecast that WaFd will post 2.56 EPS for the current year.

WaFd Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 21st were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 21st. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. WaFd’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.91%.

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.