WaFd, Inc. (NASDAQ:WAFD) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

WaFd, Inc. (NASDAQ:WAFD) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $34.80.

WAFD has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Zacks Research raised shares of WaFd from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of WaFd from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of WaFd from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of WaFd from $30.50 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th.

WaFd Stock Performance

WaFd stock opened at $36.11 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $34.44 and a 200-day moving average price of $33.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 0.97. WaFd has a fifty-two week low of $26.31 and a fifty-two week high of $38.59. The company has a market capitalization of $2.67 billion, a PE ratio of 11.80 and a beta of 0.84.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 17th. The bank reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.09. WaFd had a net margin of 18.25% and a return on equity of 8.94%. The firm had revenue of $197.66 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $190.51 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.17 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that WaFd will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current year.

WaFd Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 5th. Investors of record on Friday, May 22nd were paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. WaFd’s payout ratio is 35.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Kim E. Robison sold 22,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.28, for a total value of $776,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 116,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,095,972.72. The trade was a 15.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 1.49% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On WaFd

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in WaFd by 3,620.0% in the first quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 930 shares of the bank’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 905 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its stake in WaFd by 42.8% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,174 shares of the bank’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 352 shares in the last quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC raised its stake in WaFd by 57.6% in the second quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 1,327 shares of the bank’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 485 shares in the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its stake in WaFd by 604.5% in the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,423 shares of the bank’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 1,221 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Danske Bank A S bought a new position in WaFd in the third quarter worth approximately $51,000. Institutional investors own 83.71% of the company’s stock.

About WaFd

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.