WaFd, Inc. $WAFD Shares Acquired by Bridgeway Capital Management LLC

Bridgeway Capital Management LLC increased its stake in WaFd, Inc. (NASDAQ:WAFD) by 8.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 525,351 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 42,536 shares during the quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC’s holdings in WaFd were worth $16,827,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in WaFd by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,980,089 shares of the bank’s stock worth $159,514,000 after purchasing an additional 26,000 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in WaFd by 2.0% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,077,059 shares of the bank’s stock worth $62,914,000 after purchasing an additional 40,569 shares during the period. Systematic Financial Management LP lifted its holdings in WaFd by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 1,557,436 shares of the bank’s stock worth $49,885,000 after purchasing an additional 8,039 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in WaFd by 11.8% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,375,110 shares of the bank’s stock worth $41,652,000 after purchasing an additional 145,646 shares during the period. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in WaFd by 14.3% in the third quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 1,100,312 shares of the bank’s stock worth $33,328,000 after purchasing an additional 137,525 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.71% of the company’s stock.

WaFd Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WAFD opened at $36.21 on Thursday. WaFd, Inc. has a twelve month low of $26.31 and a twelve month high of $38.59. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The company has a market capitalization of $2.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.83 and a beta of 0.84. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $35.04 and a two-hundred day moving average of $33.26.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 17th. The bank reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $197.66 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $190.51 million. WaFd had a net margin of 18.25% and a return on equity of 8.94%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.17 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that WaFd, Inc. will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WaFd Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 22nd. WaFd’s payout ratio is presently 35.29%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on WAFD shares. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of WaFd from $30.50 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of WaFd from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of WaFd from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of WaFd from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $34.80.

Insider Transactions at WaFd

In other WaFd news, EVP Kim E. Robison sold 22,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.28, for a total transaction of $776,160.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 116,099 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,095,972.72. The trade was a 15.93% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.49% of the company’s stock.

WaFd 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.