Brokerages Set WaFd, Inc. (NASDAQ:WAFD) Price Target at $34.80

Shares of WaFd, Inc. (NASDAQ:WAFD) have earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, one has assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $34.80.

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Zacks Research upgraded WaFd from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Wall Street Zen upgraded WaFd from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, February 8th. Weiss Ratings upgraded WaFd from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on WaFd from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted 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.

WaFd Price Performance

Shares of WAFD stock opened at $35.24 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $33.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $32.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The firm has a market cap of $2.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.52 and a beta of 0.85. WaFd has a 12 month low of $26.31 and a 12 month high of $38.59.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 17th. The bank reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $197.66 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $190.51 million. WaFd had a return on equity of 8.94% and a net margin of 18.25%.During the same period last year, the company earned $0.17 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that WaFd will post 3.27 EPS for the current year.

WaFd Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 22nd. WaFd’s payout ratio is presently 35.29%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Kim E. Robison sold 22,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.28, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 15.93% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.49% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On WaFd

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of WaFd by 399.4% during 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 during the last quarter. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP increased its position in shares of WaFd by 373.8% during 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 during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in shares of WaFd by 28.1% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 905,863 shares of the bank’s stock worth $28,444,000 after purchasing an additional 198,728 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in shares of WaFd by 52.0% during 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 145,646 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.