WaFd, Inc. (NASDAQ:WAFD) Receives $32.90 Average PT from Brokerages

WaFd, Inc. (NASDAQ:WAFD) has earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the five ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $32.90.

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of WaFd from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, February 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of WaFd from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of WaFd from $33.50 to $30.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of WaFd in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $34.00 price target on WaFd in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th.

WaFd Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WAFD opened at $31.05 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $32.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $31.51. WaFd has a 52 week low of $23.75 and a 52 week high of $34.29. The stock has a market cap of $2.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.74 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.95.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 16th. The bank reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.76 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $188.32 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $193.36 million. WaFd had a net margin of 17.45% and a return on equity of 8.67%. On average, research analysts predict that WaFd will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WaFd Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 13th were issued a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 13th. WaFd’s payout ratio is 37.37%.

Insider Transactions at WaFd

In other WaFd news, EVP Cathy E. Cooper sold 5,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.77, for a total transaction of $178,981.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 94,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,199,876.35. This represents a 5.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.49% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of WaFd

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its holdings in WaFd by 14.5% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 22,011 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $629,000 after acquiring an additional 2,783 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of WaFd by 271.2% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 30,794 shares of the bank’s stock worth $867,000 after purchasing an additional 22,499 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in shares of WaFd by 26.6% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 48,094 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,375,000 after purchasing an additional 10,092 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its position in shares of WaFd by 9.2% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 246,467 shares of the bank’s stock worth $7,044,000 after purchasing an additional 20,865 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC boosted its stake in WaFd by 862.6% during the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 69,306 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,981,000 after purchasing an additional 62,106 shares during the period. 83.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

WaFd Company Profile

Washington Federal, Inc, doing business as WaFd Bank, is a publicly traded bank holding company headquartered in Seattle, Washington. Through its subsidiary, WaFd Bank, the company provides a range of banking and financial services to individuals, small-to-medium enterprises, and commercial clients. Established in 1917 as Ballard Savings & Loan in Seattle, the institution expanded over decades to serve customers across the Western United States under the Washington Federal name and has operated as a public company since the early 1980s.

WaFd Bank’s core offerings encompass deposit accounts such as checking, savings, money market, and certificates of deposit, alongside consumer and commercial lending products.