Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Invests $1.05 Million in WaFd, Inc. $WAFD

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in shares of WaFd, Inc. (NASDAQ:WAFD) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 33,600 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $1,055,000.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WAFD. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL bought a new stake in WaFd in the third quarter worth $1,387,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of WaFd by 15.4% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 338,608 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $10,256,000 after buying an additional 45,228 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in shares of WaFd by 112.5% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 53,645 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,718,000 after buying an additional 28,406 shares during the period. Azora Capital LP purchased a new position in shares of WaFd in the fourth quarter worth about $2,414,000. Finally, Bridgeway Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of WaFd by 8.8% in the 4th quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 525,351 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $16,827,000 after acquiring an additional 42,536 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.71% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at WaFd

In related news, EVP Kim E. Robison sold 22,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 116,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,095,972.72. This trade represents a 15.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 1.49% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

WaFd Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WAFD opened at $38.34 on Friday. WaFd, Inc. has a 1 year low of $26.31 and a 1 year high of $39.35. The company has a market cap of $2.83 billion, a PE ratio of 12.53 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $36.07 and its 200 day moving average is $33.71.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 17th. The bank reported $0.83 EPS 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 business had revenue of $197.66 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $190.51 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.17 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that WaFd, Inc. will post 3.27 EPS for the current year.

WaFd Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 5th. Investors of record on Friday, May 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 22nd. WaFd’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.29%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on WAFD shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded WaFd from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Zacks Research cut WaFd from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on WaFd from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price objective on WaFd from $30.50 to $36.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $34.80.

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.