WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) Hits New 52-Week High – Here’s What Happened

Shares of WaFd, Inc. (NASDAQ:WAFD) reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $38.90 and last traded at $38.7150, with a volume of 77355 shares. The stock had previously closed at $38.37.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on WAFD. Piper Sandler raised their price target on WaFd from $30.50 to $36.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Zacks Research cut WaFd from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of WaFd from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of WaFd from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $34.80.

WaFd Stock Performance

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 cap of $2.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.53 and a beta of 0.83. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $36.00 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $33.68.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 17th. The bank reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $197.66 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $190.51 million. WaFd had a return on equity of 8.94% and a net margin of 18.25%.During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.17 earnings per share. Analysts predict that WaFd, Inc. will post 3.27 EPS for the current year.

WaFd Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 22nd were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 22nd. WaFd’s payout ratio is presently 35.29%.

Insider Activity at WaFd

In other news, EVP Kim E. Robison sold 22,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.28, for a total value of $776,160.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 116,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,095,972.72. This represents a 15.93% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.49% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WAFD. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its position in shares of WaFd by 14.5% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 22,011 shares of the bank’s stock worth $629,000 after purchasing an additional 2,783 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of WaFd by 271.2% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 30,794 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $867,000 after buying an additional 22,499 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in shares of WaFd by 26.6% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 48,094 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,375,000 after buying an additional 10,092 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its stake in WaFd by 9.2% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 246,467 shares of the bank’s stock worth $7,044,000 after buying an additional 20,865 shares during the period. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC raised its stake in WaFd by 862.6% during the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 69,306 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,981,000 after buying an additional 62,106 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.71% of the company’s stock.

WaFd Company 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.