WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) Hits New 12-Month High After Dividend Announcement

WaFd, Inc. (NASDAQ:WAFD) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday following a dividend announcement from the company. The stock traded as high as $34.29 and last traded at $33.6680, with a volume of 78777 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $33.32.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Friday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 13th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 13th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. WaFd’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.37%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WAFD has been the subject of several analyst reports. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on WaFd from $33.50 to $30.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $34.00 price target on WaFd in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of WaFd in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of WaFd from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, January 31st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of WaFd from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $32.90.

WaFd Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $2.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.62 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $32.67 and a 200 day simple moving average of $31.16.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 16th. The bank reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.76 by ($0.01). The company 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%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that WaFd, Inc. will post 2.56 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at WaFd

In other news, CEO Brent J. Beardall acquired 3,000 shares of WaFd stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 3rd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $16.85 per share, for a total transaction of $50,550.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 6,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $101,100. The trade was a 100.00% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.49% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of WaFd

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its holdings in WaFd by 42.8% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,174 shares of the bank’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 352 shares during the last quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC increased its holdings in WaFd by 57.6% in the second quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 1,327 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 485 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its holdings in WaFd by 604.5% during the 3rd 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 during the period. Danske Bank A S bought a new stake in shares of WaFd in the 3rd quarter valued at about $51,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of WaFd by 36.0% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,837 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 486 shares during the period. 83.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.