WaFd, Inc (NASDAQ:WAFD) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

WaFd, Inc (NASDAQ:WAFD) was the target of a large increase in short interest in September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 2,040,000 shares, an increase of 47.8% from the September 15th total of 1,380,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 562,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.6 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WAFD has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of WaFd from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Stephens boosted their target price on WaFd from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $34.25.

WaFd Stock Performance

Shares of WAFD traded up $0.39 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $36.16. The company had a trading volume of 60,527 shares, compared to its average volume of 440,902. The business has a fifty day moving average of $34.94 and a 200-day moving average of $31.04. 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 has a market cap of $2.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.32 and a beta of 0.83. WaFd has a 12 month low of $23.36 and a 12 month high of $37.49.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 16th. The bank reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $194.44 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $185.36 million. WaFd had a net margin of 14.13% and a return on equity of 9.58%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.89 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that WaFd will post 3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WaFd Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 23rd were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.88%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 23rd. WaFd’s payout ratio is 41.77%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On WaFd

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WAFD. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in shares of WaFd by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 12,054 shares of the bank’s stock worth $397,000 after purchasing an additional 661 shares in the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of WaFd by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA now owns 223,770 shares of the bank’s stock worth $6,496,000 after purchasing an additional 2,688 shares in the last quarter. Cooper Financial Group acquired a new position in WaFd in the first quarter valued at about $278,000. Hennessy Advisors Inc. lifted its position in WaFd by 1.0% during the first quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 101,000 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,932,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Finally, Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of WaFd by 15.7% during the 1st quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 14,194 shares of the bank’s stock worth $412,000 after acquiring an additional 1,928 shares in the last quarter. 83.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.