SG Americas Securities LLC Acquires 27,288 Shares of WaFd, Inc. (NASDAQ:WAFD)

SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in shares of WaFd, Inc. (NASDAQ:WAFD) by 270.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 37,379 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 27,288 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in WaFd were worth $1,068,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of WAFD. Vest Financial LLC purchased a new position in WaFd during the first quarter valued at $708,000. Talbot Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of WaFd by 4.4% in the first quarter. Talbot Financial LLC now owns 77,586 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,217,000 after buying an additional 3,288 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its position in shares of WaFd by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 236,909 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $6,771,000 after buying an additional 6,068 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of WaFd by 2,337.2% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 40,555 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,159,000 after buying an additional 38,891 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new position in shares of WaFd during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,163,000. Institutional investors own 83.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of WaFd from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of WaFd from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 12th. Finally, Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $29.00 target price on shares of WaFd in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $30.50.

WaFd Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of WAFD opened at $27.63 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $28.45 and its 200 day moving average is $29.80. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. WaFd, Inc. has a 12-month low of $23.75 and a 12-month high of $38.62. The company has a market capitalization of $2.21 billion, a PE ratio of 10.43 and a beta of 0.85.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 11th. The bank reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.05. WaFd had a net margin of 15.13% and a return on equity of 8.74%. The business had revenue of $179.79 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $184.17 million. Research analysts expect that WaFd, Inc. will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WaFd Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.91%. WaFd’s payout ratio is 40.75%.

WaFd Company 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.