WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) Upgraded to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) was upgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Friday.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports 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 report on Wednesday, April 16th. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $29.00 target price on shares of WaFd in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat, WaFd currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $30.50.

WaFd Price Performance

WAFD opened at $29.73 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $29.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $29.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. WaFd has a 1 year low of $23.75 and a 1 year high of $38.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.38 billion, a PE ratio of 11.30 and a beta of 0.84.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The bank reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.06. WaFd had a net margin of 15.57% and a return on equity of 8.56%. The business had revenue of $186.26 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $184.47 million. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that WaFd will post 2.56 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Comerica Bank raised its holdings in WaFd by 0.5% in the first quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 69,180 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,977,000 after buying an additional 376 shares during the period. Harbour Investments Inc. raised its stake in shares of WaFd by 29.6% during the fourth quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 1,752 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co raised its stake in shares of WaFd by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 98,124 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,162,000 after purchasing an additional 433 shares during the period. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of WaFd by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 6,987 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $225,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the period. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of WaFd by 3.5% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 13,892 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $397,000 after purchasing an additional 468 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.71% of the company’s stock.

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.