WaFd, Inc. (NASDAQ:WAFD) Receives $32.90 Consensus Price Target from Analysts

WaFd, Inc. (NASDAQ:WAFD) has been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the five research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $32.90.

Several research firms have recently issued reports on WAFD. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of WaFd from $33.50 to $30.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of WaFd in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of WaFd from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, February 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $34.00 price objective on shares of WaFd in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of WaFd from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th.

WaFd Stock Down 1.8%

Shares of NASDAQ:WAFD opened at $31.00 on Monday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $32.55 and its 200 day moving average is $31.55. WaFd has a 12-month low of $23.75 and a 12-month high of $34.29. The stock has a market cap of $2.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.73 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 16th. The bank reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by ($0.01). WaFd had a net margin of 17.45% and a return on equity of 8.67%. The company had revenue of $188.32 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $193.36 million. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that WaFd will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WaFd Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 13th were paid a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 13th. WaFd’s payout ratio is presently 37.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling at WaFd

In other news, EVP Cathy E. Cooper sold 5,300 shares of the company’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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 94,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,199,876.35. This represents a 5.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.49% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of WaFd

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in shares of WaFd by 14.5% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 22,011 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $629,000 after purchasing an additional 2,783 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of WaFd by 271.2% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 30,794 shares of the bank’s stock worth $867,000 after buying an additional 22,499 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in WaFd by 26.6% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 48,094 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,375,000 after buying an additional 10,092 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its position in WaFd by 9.2% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 246,467 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $7,044,000 after buying an additional 20,865 shares during the period. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC increased its holdings in WaFd by 862.6% during the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 69,306 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,981,000 after buying an additional 62,106 shares during the last quarter. 83.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.