WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) Hits New 12-Month High – What’s Next?

WaFd, Inc. (NASDAQ:WAFD) shares reached 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.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

WaFd Stock Up 0.1%

The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $30.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $30.33. The stock has a market cap of $2.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.69 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.

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

WaFd Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at WaFd

In other news, CEO Brent J. Beardall purchased 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 3rd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $16.85 per share, for a total transaction of $50,550.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 6,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $101,100. The trade was a 100.00% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.46% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On WaFd

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in WaFd by 2.0% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,077,059 shares of the bank’s stock worth $62,914,000 after purchasing an additional 40,569 shares during the period. Systematic Financial Management LP increased its position in shares of WaFd by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 1,541,973 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $45,149,000 after buying an additional 10,646 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in WaFd by 11.8% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,375,110 shares of the bank’s stock worth $41,652,000 after buying an additional 145,646 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in WaFd by 124.3% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,107,097 shares of the bank’s stock worth $31,641,000 after acquiring an additional 613,596 shares in the last quarter. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC grew its stake in WaFd by 14.3% in the third quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 1,100,312 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $33,328,000 after acquiring an additional 137,525 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.71% of the company’s stock.

About WaFd

WaFd, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Washington Federal Bank that provides lending, depository, insurance, and other banking services in the United States. The company offers deposit products, including business and personal checking accounts, and term certificates of deposit, as well as money market accounts and passbook savings accounts.