Washington Federal (NASDAQ:WAFD) Receives New Coverage from Analysts at StockNews.com

Equities researchers at StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Washington Federal (NASDAQ:WAFD – Get Rating) in a note issued to investors on Thursday. The brokerage set a “hold” rating on the bank’s stock.

Several other research firms also recently issued reports on WAFD. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Washington Federal from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 17th. DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of Washington Federal from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 17th.

Washington Federal Stock Performance

Shares of WAFD stock opened at $31.52 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $34.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $34.22. Washington Federal has a 52 week low of $29.08 and a 52 week high of $39.17. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52. The company has a market cap of $2.06 billion, a PE ratio of 8.21 and a beta of 0.85.

Washington Federal (NASDAQ:WAFD – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 12th. The bank reported $1.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.05. Washington Federal had a net margin of 32.70% and a return on equity of 13.60%. The firm had revenue of $196.82 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $194.50 million. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Washington Federal will post 4.43 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Washington Federal news, CEO Brent J. Beardall purchased 1,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 13th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $30.20 per share, with a total value of $48,320.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 28,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $872,598.80. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Washington Federal news, Director Randall H. Talbot purchased 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 10th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $31.10 per share, with a total value of $108,850.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 51,879 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,613,436.90. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Brent J. Beardall purchased 1,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 13th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $30.20 per share, with a total value of $48,320.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 28,894 shares in the company, valued at approximately $872,598.80. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.46% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WAFD. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership acquired a new position in Washington Federal during the 4th quarter valued at about $42,196,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Washington Federal during the 4th quarter valued at about $21,711,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in Washington Federal during the 3rd quarter valued at about $17,497,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Washington Federal by 490.2% during the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 510,742 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $16,762,000 after purchasing an additional 424,205 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its stake in Washington Federal by 13.9% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,124,445 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $93,796,000 after purchasing an additional 381,753 shares during the period. 80.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Washington Federal Company Profile

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Washington Federal, Inc engages in the provision of lending, depository, insurance, and other banking services to consumers. It operates under the Commercial Loans and Consumer Loans segments. The Commercial Loans segment is disaggregated into five classes: multi-family, commercial real estate, commercial and industrial, construction, and land acquisition and development.