BNP Paribas Financial Markets Trims Position in WaFd, Inc (NASDAQ:WAFD)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets decreased its stake in WaFd, Inc (NASDAQ:WAFD) by 36.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,367 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 10,630 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets’ holdings in WaFd were worth $592,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of WaFd in the fourth quarter worth about $1,766,000. LPL Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of WaFd by 16.5% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 47,174 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,521,000 after acquiring an additional 6,682 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in shares of WaFd by 33.3% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 161,958 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,643,000 after acquiring an additional 40,499 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of WaFd by 152.9% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 469,704 shares of the bank’s stock worth $15,143,000 after acquiring an additional 283,953 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in WaFd by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 447,621 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $14,431,000 after purchasing an additional 19,117 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WAFD has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. DA Davidson downgraded WaFd from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the company from $35.00 to $32.00 in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on WaFd from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $29.00 price target on shares of WaFd in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised WaFd from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, April 12th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $30.50.

WaFd Price Performance

Shares of WaFd stock opened at $28.47 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $28.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $30.82. WaFd, Inc has a 12 month low of $23.75 and a 12 month high of $38.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.12 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The bank reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $179.79 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $184.17 million. WaFd had a return on equity of 8.78% and a net margin of 12.66%. As a group, analysts predict that WaFd, Inc will post 2.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WaFd Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be given a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.79%. WaFd’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.75%.

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.