WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) Lowered to “Sell” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report published on Thursday.

Separately, Stephens raised their target price on shares of WaFd from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, WaFd currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $34.25.

WaFd Stock Performance

Shares of WaFd stock opened at $34.04 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.94 and a beta of 0.83. WaFd has a 52 week low of $23.36 and a 52 week high of $37.49. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $34.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $30.79.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The bank reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $194.44 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $185.36 million. WaFd had a net margin of 14.13% and a return on equity of 9.58%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.89 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that WaFd will post 3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WaFd Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 23rd were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 23rd. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.06%. WaFd’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.54%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On WaFd

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WAFD. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in shares of WaFd by 31.6% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,274,665 shares of the bank’s stock worth $36,430,000 after acquiring an additional 305,942 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of WaFd by 113.4% during the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 272,721 shares of the bank’s stock worth $7,794,000 after purchasing an additional 144,920 shares during the period. Foundry Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of WaFd by 113.8% during the first quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 261,656 shares of the bank’s stock worth $7,596,000 after purchasing an additional 139,244 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of WaFd by 1.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,902,461 shares of the bank’s stock worth $229,408,000 after purchasing an additional 125,020 shares during the period. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of WaFd by 353.2% during the first quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 102,577 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,978,000 after purchasing an additional 79,942 shares during the period. 83.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About WaFd

WaFd, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Washington Federal Bank that provides lending, depository, insurance, and other banking services in the United States. The company offers deposit products, including business and personal checking accounts, and term certificates of deposit, as well as money market accounts and passbook savings accounts.