Arizona State Retirement System Sells 638 Shares of WaFd, Inc (NASDAQ:WAFD)

Arizona State Retirement System lowered its holdings in shares of WaFd, Inc (NASDAQ:WAFD) by 3.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 18,095 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 638 shares during the quarter. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in WaFd were worth $596,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Diversified Trust Co bought a new position in shares of WaFd during the 4th quarter valued at $221,000. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in WaFd by 12.6% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 699,766 shares of the bank’s stock worth $17,928,000 after acquiring an additional 78,457 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in WaFd by 26.6% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 32,009 shares of the bank’s stock worth $820,000 after acquiring an additional 6,719 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in WaFd by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 18,851 shares of the bank’s stock worth $483,000 after acquiring an additional 413 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alps Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in WaFd by 28.5% in the 3rd quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 12,874 shares of the bank’s stock worth $330,000 after acquiring an additional 2,853 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on WAFD shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of WaFd from $37.00 to $35.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 18th. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $35.00 price target on shares of WaFd in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. StockNews.com lowered shares of WaFd from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $35.00 price target on shares of WaFd in a report on Thursday, April 11th.

WaFd Trading Up 3.2 %

NASDAQ:WAFD opened at $27.90 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $27.77 and a 200-day moving average price of $28.23. WaFd, Inc has a 12 month low of $23.36 and a 12 month high of $34.07. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The stock has a market cap of $1.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.18 and a beta of 0.85.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 16th. The bank reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.08. WaFd had a net margin of 20.58% and a return on equity of 11.19%. The firm had revenue of $166.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $180.45 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.16 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that WaFd, Inc will post 2.58 EPS for the current year.

WaFd Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were given a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.73%. This is a boost from WaFd’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 22nd. WaFd’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.50%.

WaFd Profile

WaFd, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Washington Federal Bank that provides lending, depository, insurance, and other banking services in the United States. The company offers deposit products, including business and personal checking accounts, and term certificates of deposit, as well as money market accounts and passbook savings accounts.