Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Issues Positive Forecast for WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) Stock Price

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) had its price objective upped by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $35.00 to $38.00 in a report issued on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a market perform rating on the bank’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $34.00 price objective on WaFd in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of WaFd from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, February 8th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of WaFd from $30.50 to $36.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of WaFd from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $34.80.

WaFd Stock Performance

Shares of WaFd stock opened at $35.20 on Monday. WaFd has a 52 week low of $26.31 and a 52 week high of $36.02. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $32.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $31.69. The company has a market cap of $2.67 billion, a PE ratio of 11.50 and a beta of 0.83.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 16th. The bank reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.09. WaFd had a return on equity of 8.94% and a net margin of 18.25%.The company had revenue of $197.66 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $190.51 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.17 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that WaFd will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WaFd Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 13th were paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 13th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. WaFd’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.29%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Cathy E. Cooper sold 5,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.77, for a total value of $178,981.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 94,755 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,199,876.35. The trade was a 5.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.49% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On WaFd

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WAFD. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of WaFd by 399.4% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 333,712 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $10,689,000 after purchasing an additional 266,891 shares during the period. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in WaFd by 373.8% in the 4th quarter. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP now owns 287,947 shares of the bank’s stock worth $9,223,000 after buying an additional 227,174 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in WaFd by 52.0% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 448,716 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $14,372,000 after buying an additional 153,556 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in WaFd by 11.8% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,375,110 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $41,652,000 after buying an additional 145,646 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in WaFd by 1,533.5% during the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 146,578 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,440,000 after acquiring an additional 137,605 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.71% of the company’s stock.

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.