WaFd, Inc. (NASDAQ:WAFD) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

WaFd, Inc. (NASDAQ:WAFD) has received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the five research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $37.00.

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on WAFD shares. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of WaFd from $30.50 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on WaFd from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Weiss Ratings raised WaFd from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. DA Davidson upped their price target on WaFd from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered WaFd from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 22nd.

WaFd Stock Performance

WAFD stock opened at $36.64 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. The company has a market capitalization of $2.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.56 and a beta of 0.83. WaFd has a 12 month low of $26.31 and a 12 month high of $39.49. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $36.87 and a two-hundred day moving average of $34.29.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 17th. The bank reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.82 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $205.52 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $199.56 million. WaFd had a return on equity of 8.98% and a net margin of 18.47%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that WaFd will post 3.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WaFd Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 22nd were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. WaFd’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.07%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On WaFd

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in WaFd in the 1st quarter valued at $1,055,000. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL acquired a new position in WaFd during the 3rd quarter worth $1,387,000. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its holdings in WaFd by 75,681.1% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 71,992 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,261,000 after acquiring an additional 71,897 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its holdings in WaFd by 37.9% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 191,044 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,999,000 after acquiring an additional 52,500 shares during the period. Finally, Bridgeway Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of WaFd by 8.8% in the fourth quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 525,351 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $16,827,000 after purchasing an additional 42,536 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.