Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for WSFS Financial (NASDAQ:WSFS) Stock

WSFS Financial (NASDAQ:WSFS) had its price objective increased by equities research analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $83.00 to $89.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “market perform” rating on the bank’s stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ target price points to a potential upside of 9.74% from the company’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 target price (up from $72.00) on shares of WSFS Financial in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of WSFS Financial in a research report on Friday, June 12th. DA Davidson set a $83.00 price objective on shares of WSFS Financial and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday. UBS Group set a $76.00 price objective on WSFS Financial in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of WSFS Financial in a research note on Monday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $80.79.

WSFS Financial Price Performance

WSFS Financial stock traded up $1.26 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $81.10. The stock had a trading volume of 139,568 shares, compared to its average volume of 446,635. WSFS Financial has a 1-year low of $49.92 and a 1-year high of $82.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.54 and a beta of 0.76. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $75.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $68.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

WSFS Financial (NASDAQ:WSFS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The bank reported $1.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.16. WSFS Financial had a return on equity of 11.71% and a net margin of 23.34%.The business had revenue of $284.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $278.41 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.27 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that WSFS Financial will post 6.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other WSFS Financial news, CEO Rodger Levenson sold 65,446 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.11, for a total value of $4,850,203.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 186,088 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,790,981.68. The trade was a 26.02% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On WSFS Financial

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WSFS. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in WSFS Financial by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,465,792 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $136,210,000 after purchasing an additional 32,423 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in WSFS Financial by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,066,591 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $58,918,000 after buying an additional 60,931 shares during the period. Cooke & Bieler LP increased its stake in shares of WSFS Financial by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 1,055,902 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $58,328,000 after acquiring an additional 23,946 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in shares of WSFS Financial by 11.4% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 737,587 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $48,282,000 after acquiring an additional 75,283 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of WSFS Financial during the 4th quarter worth about $39,193,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.49% of the company’s stock.

About WSFS Financial

WSFS Financial Corporation is the bank holding company for WSFS Bank, a regional financial institution headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware. The company traces its roots to the Safe Deposit & Trust Company, founded in 1832, and formally organized as WSFS Financial in the mid-1980s. Over its long history, WSFS has grown through a combination of organic expansion and selective acquisitions to serve a broad base of individual, commercial and institutional clients.

WSFS Bank offers a full suite of banking and financial services, including retail and commercial deposit accounts, commercial and industrial lending, real estate financing, and treasury management solutions.