WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) Price Target Raised to $38.00

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) had its target price raised by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $35.00 to $38.00 in a research report sent to investors on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods currently has a market perform rating on the bank’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on WAFD. Piper Sandler raised their target price on WaFd from $30.50 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. Weiss Ratings upgraded WaFd from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, April 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $34.00 price objective on WaFd in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded WaFd from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, February 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $34.80.

WaFd Price Performance

Shares of WAFD opened at $35.04 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. WaFd has a 1 year low of $26.31 and a 1 year high of $36.01. The stock has a market cap of $2.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.45 and a beta of 0.83. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $32.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $31.75.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 16th. The bank reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.09. WaFd had a return on equity of 8.94% and a net margin of 18.25%.The firm had revenue of $197.66 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $190.51 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.17 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that WaFd will post 3.21 earnings per share for the current year.

WaFd Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 13th were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 13th. WaFd’s payout ratio is 35.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling at WaFd

In other news, EVP Cathy E. Cooper sold 5,300 shares of WaFd stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.77, for a total transaction of $178,981.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 94,755 shares in the company, valued at $3,199,876.35. The trade was a 5.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.49% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On WaFd

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WAFD. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd raised its position in WaFd by 546.8% in the 3rd quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 61,036 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,849,000 after buying an additional 51,600 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in WaFd by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,077,059 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $62,914,000 after buying an additional 40,569 shares during the last quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D acquired a new stake in WaFd in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $2,117,000. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL acquired a new stake in WaFd in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,387,000. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its position in WaFd by 12.5% in the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 307,366 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $9,310,000 after buying an additional 34,073 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.71% of the company’s stock.

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.