Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Has $1.85 Million Stock Holdings in WaFd, Inc. $WAFD

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd raised its stake in shares of WaFd, Inc. (NASDAQ:WAFD) by 546.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 61,036 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 51,600 shares during the quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd owned 0.08% of WaFd worth $1,849,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in WAFD. Strs Ohio boosted its holdings in shares of WaFd by 4,816.7% during the 3rd quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 29,500 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $894,000 after acquiring an additional 28,900 shares in the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH lifted its stake in shares of WaFd by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 79,485 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,408,000 after purchasing an additional 4,917 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC lifted its stake in WaFd by 17.4% in the third quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 36,349 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,101,000 after buying an additional 5,395 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in WaFd by 38.1% in the third quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 8,897 shares of the bank’s stock worth $262,000 after purchasing an additional 2,453 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in WaFd by 34.9% in the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 25,239 shares of the bank’s stock worth $764,000 after acquiring an additional 6,526 shares in the last quarter. 83.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at WaFd

In related news, CEO Brent J. Beardall bought 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 3rd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $16.85 per share, for a total transaction of $50,550.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 6,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $101,100. This trade represents a 100.00% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.49% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded WaFd from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $34.00 price target on shares of WaFd in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of WaFd in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of WaFd from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of WaFd from $33.50 to $30.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $32.90.

WaFd Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WAFD opened at $32.60 on Friday. WaFd, Inc. has a 12 month low of $23.75 and a 12 month high of $33.92. The stock has a market cap of $2.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.28 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $32.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $31.04. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 16th. The bank reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $188.32 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $193.36 million. WaFd had a return on equity of 8.67% and a net margin of 17.45%. As a group, analysts predict that WaFd, Inc. will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current year.

WaFd Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 21st were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 21st. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. WaFd’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.37%.

About WaFd

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.