Palisade Capital Management LP Takes $21.46 Million Position in WSFS Financial Corporation $WSFS

Palisade Capital Management LP purchased a new position in WSFS Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:WSFS) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 279,625 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $21,456,000. WSFS Financial makes up about 0.9% of Palisade Capital Management LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Root Financial Partners LLC lifted its holdings in WSFS Financial by 92.4% in the first quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 431 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 207 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of WSFS Financial during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Allworth Financial LP purchased a new stake in shares of WSFS Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at about $47,000. Torren Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of WSFS Financial during the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Clearstead Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of WSFS Financial by 167.5% in the fourth quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 781 shares of the bank’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 489 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.49% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Rodger Levenson sold 65,446 shares of WSFS Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.11, for a total transaction of $4,850,203.06. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 186,088 shares in the company, valued at $13,790,981.68. This trade represents a 26.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Shari Kruzinski sold 3,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.74, for a total transaction of $286,090.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 15,207 shares in the company, valued at $1,243,020.18. This trade represents a 18.71% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of WSFS Financial from $83.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of WSFS Financial in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 price objective (up from $80.00) on shares of WSFS Financial in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. DA Davidson set a $83.00 price objective on WSFS Financial and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Stephens downgraded WSFS Financial from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $87.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $83.07.

WSFS Financial Price Performance

NASDAQ:WSFS opened at $78.58 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $78.88 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $72.14. WSFS Financial Corporation has a 52 week low of $49.92 and a 52 week high of $82.94. The stock has a market cap of $4.01 billion, a PE ratio of 13.14 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11.

WSFS Financial (NASDAQ:WSFS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The bank reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.16. WSFS Financial had a return on equity of 11.71% and a net margin of 23.34%.The firm had revenue of $284.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $278.41 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.27 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that WSFS Financial Corporation will post 6.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WSFS Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 7th were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 7th. WSFS Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.38%.

WSFS Financial Company Profile

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.