WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) Reaches New 1-Year High – Here’s What Happened

WaFd, Inc. (NASDAQ:WAFD)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $36.06 and last traded at $36.0230, with a volume of 85082 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $35.64.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on WAFD. Piper Sandler raised their target price on WaFd from $30.50 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Wall Street Zen raised WaFd from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, February 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $34.00 target price on WaFd in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Weiss Ratings raised WaFd from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Finally, Zacks Research raised WaFd from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, WaFd currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $34.80.

WaFd Trading Up 0.1%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.71 billion, a PE ratio of 11.66 and a beta of 0.85. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $32.53 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $32.13.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 17th. The bank reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.09. WaFd had a return on equity of 8.94% and a net margin of 18.25%.The firm had revenue of $197.66 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $190.51 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.17 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that WaFd, Inc. will post 3.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at WaFd

In related news, EVP Cathy E. Cooper sold 5,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.77, for a total value of $178,981.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 94,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,199,876.35. The trade was a 5.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Kim E. Robison sold 22,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.28, for a total value of $776,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 116,099 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,095,972.72. This represents a 15.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 1.49% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WAFD. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in WaFd by 399.4% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 333,712 shares of the bank’s stock worth $10,689,000 after purchasing an additional 266,891 shares in the last quarter. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in WaFd by 373.8% in the 4th quarter. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP now owns 287,947 shares of the bank’s stock worth $9,223,000 after purchasing an additional 227,174 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in WaFd by 52.0% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 448,716 shares of the bank’s stock worth $14,372,000 after purchasing an additional 153,556 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in WaFd by 11.8% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,375,110 shares of the bank’s stock worth $41,652,000 after purchasing an additional 145,646 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in WaFd by 1,533.5% in the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 146,578 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,440,000 after purchasing an additional 137,605 shares in the last quarter. 83.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.