WSFS Financial (NASDAQ:WSFS) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at Brean Capital

Brean Capital initiated coverage on shares of WSFS Financial (NASDAQ:WSFS) in a research note released on Tuesday morning. The brokerage issued a buy rating and a $74.50 price objective on the bank’s stock.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on WSFS. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on WSFS Financial from $62.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of WSFS Financial in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. DA Davidson assumed coverage on WSFS Financial in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $74.00 target price for the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of WSFS Financial in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of WSFS Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $70.58.

WSFS Financial Price Performance

WSFS Financial stock opened at $63.39 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $3.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.43 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $62.48 and its 200 day moving average is $57.81. WSFS Financial has a 52-week low of $42.44 and a 52-week high of $71.32.

WSFS Financial (NASDAQ:WSFS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 26th. The bank reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $90.08 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $267.36 million. WSFS Financial had a net margin of 21.14% and a return on equity of 10.89%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.11 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that WSFS Financial will post 4.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WSFS Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 13th were issued a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 13th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. WSFS Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other WSFS Financial news, EVP James J. Wechsler sold 450 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.89, for a total value of $31,450.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 5,777 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $403,754.53. This trade represents a 7.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Arthur J. Bacci sold 2,005 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.51, for a total value of $141,372.55. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 26,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,859,066.66. The trade was a 7.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 3,455 shares of company stock valued at $242,923 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.21% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WSFS. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of WSFS Financial by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,610,976 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $143,604,000 after buying an additional 27,151 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in WSFS Financial by 2.2% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,544,508 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $83,295,000 after buying an additional 33,398 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in WSFS Financial by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,066,591 shares of the bank’s stock worth $58,918,000 after buying an additional 60,931 shares during the last quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP lifted its holdings in WSFS Financial by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 1,055,902 shares of the bank’s stock worth $58,328,000 after buying an additional 23,946 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pzena Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of WSFS Financial by 14.5% in the 3rd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 928,413 shares of the bank’s stock worth $50,069,000 after acquiring an additional 117,244 shares in the last quarter. 88.49% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About WSFS Financial

WSFS Financial Corporation is the bank holding company for WSFS Bank, a regional financial institution headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware. The company traces its roots to the Safe Deposit & Trust Company, founded in 1832, and formally organized as WSFS Financial in the mid-1980s. Over its long history, WSFS has grown through a combination of organic expansion and selective acquisitions to serve a broad base of individual, commercial and institutional clients.

WSFS Bank offers a full suite of banking and financial services, including retail and commercial deposit accounts, commercial and industrial lending, real estate financing, and treasury management solutions.