Empowered Funds LLC Acquires 61,364 Shares of WaFd, Inc. $WAFD

Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in WaFd, Inc. (NASDAQ:WAFD) by 27.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 284,555 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 61,364 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in WaFd were worth $8,133,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WAFD. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in shares of WaFd in the first quarter worth about $28,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of WaFd by 35.2% during the first quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 2,002 shares of the bank’s stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 521 shares during the period. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd raised its stake in shares of WaFd by 232.4% during the first quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,978 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 1,383 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in shares of WaFd by 12.7% in the first quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,239 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $121,000 after purchasing an additional 477 shares during the period. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd bought a new position in WaFd in the first quarter worth approximately $263,000. 83.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

WaFd Stock Performance

Shares of WaFd stock opened at $31.49 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.48 billion, a PE ratio of 11.97 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $30.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $29.13. WaFd, Inc. has a one year low of $23.75 and a one year high of $38.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 17th. The bank reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.06. WaFd had a net margin of 15.57% and a return on equity of 8.57%. The firm had revenue of $186.26 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $184.47 million. Research analysts expect that WaFd, Inc. will post 2.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WaFd Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 22nd. WaFd’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.06%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WAFD has been the subject of several research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded WaFd from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Stephens upped their price objective on shares of WaFd from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of WaFd from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of WaFd from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of WaFd from $29.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $32.25.

WaFd Profile

WaFd, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Washington Federal Bank that provides lending, depository, insurance, and other banking services in the United States. The company offers deposit products, including business and personal checking accounts, and term certificates of deposit, as well as money market accounts and passbook savings accounts.