Stephens Reaffirms “Equal Weight” Rating for WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD)

Stephens reissued their equal weight rating on shares of WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) in a research report released on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. Stephens currently has a $32.00 price target on the bank’s stock.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on WAFD. DA Davidson reiterated a buy rating and issued a $35.00 price objective on shares of WaFd in a report on Thursday, April 11th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of WaFd from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of WaFd from $37.00 to $35.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 18th.

WaFd Price Performance

NASDAQ WAFD opened at $28.59 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. WaFd has a 12-month low of $23.36 and a 12-month high of $34.07. The company has a market capitalization of $1.85 billion, a PE ratio of 8.38 and a beta of 0.85. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $27.77 and its 200-day moving average is $28.32.

WaFd Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 8th. Investors of record on Friday, February 23rd were paid a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 22nd. This is a boost from WaFd’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.64%. WaFd’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.50%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On WaFd

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WAFD. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of WaFd in the third quarter valued at $35,000. EMC Capital Management boosted its position in WaFd by 90.2% during the third quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 4,184 shares of the bank’s stock worth $107,000 after purchasing an additional 1,984 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd boosted its position in WaFd by 22.6% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 7,489 shares of the bank’s stock worth $192,000 after purchasing an additional 1,383 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale bought a new position in WaFd during the fourth quarter worth $201,000. Finally, Diversified Trust Co bought a new position in WaFd during the fourth quarter worth $221,000. 83.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About WaFd

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.