WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) Sets New 52-Week High – Here’s What Happened

Shares of WaFd, Inc. (NASDAQ:WAFD) hit a new 52-week high on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $33.78 and last traded at $33.5510, with a volume of 21564 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $33.42.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on WAFD shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of WaFd in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on WaFd from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut WaFd from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 18th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, WaFd presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $32.00.

WaFd Stock Down 0.8%

The stock has a market capitalization of $2.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.63 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $30.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $30.39.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The bank reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter. WaFd had a net margin of 16.02% and a return on equity of 8.40%. The company had revenue of $187.62 million during the quarter. As a group, research analysts predict that WaFd, Inc. will post 2.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WaFd Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 21st were paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 21st. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. WaFd’s dividend payout ratio is presently 40.91%.

Insider Activity at WaFd

In other news, CEO Brent J. Beardall purchased 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 3rd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $16.85 per share, for a total transaction of $50,550.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 6,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $101,100. The trade was a 100.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 1.46% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On WaFd

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WAFD. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in WaFd by 5.1% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 875,079 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $25,010,000 after purchasing an additional 42,653 shares during the period. AlphaCore Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of WaFd by 99.9% in the second quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC now owns 33,571 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $983,000 after purchasing an additional 16,780 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its holdings in shares of WaFd by 20.7% during the first quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 9,377 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $268,000 after buying an additional 1,608 shares during the last quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP boosted its position in shares of WaFd by 1.7% during the first quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 1,531,327 shares of the bank’s stock worth $43,765,000 after buying an additional 24,959 shares during the period. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in WaFd by 27.5% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 284,555 shares of the bank’s stock worth $8,133,000 after buying an additional 61,364 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.