WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) Lowered to Sell Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report report published on Saturday morning.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Stephens boosted their target price on WaFd from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. DA Davidson boosted their target price on WaFd from $29.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on WaFd from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of WaFd in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on WaFd from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat, WaFd presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $32.25.

WaFd Trading Up 0.9%

NASDAQ WAFD opened at $28.07 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.63 and a beta of 0.88. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $30.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $29.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98. WaFd has a 52 week low of $23.75 and a 52 week high of $38.62.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 16th. The bank reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.75 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $190.55 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $191.04 million. WaFd had a net margin of 16.02% and a return on equity of 8.41%. As a group, analysts anticipate that WaFd will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WaFd Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 22nd. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. WaFd’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.91%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Sean Singleton sold 1,004 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.71, for a total value of $31,836.84. Following the sale, the director owned 9,278 shares in the company, valued at approximately $294,205.38. This represents a 9.76% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.46% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On WaFd

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in WaFd by 36.0% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,837 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 486 shares during the period. CWM LLC raised its stake in WaFd by 9.7% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 26,643 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $807,000 after acquiring an additional 2,359 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in WaFd by 7.7% in the 3rd quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 10,866 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $329,000 after acquiring an additional 779 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in WaFd by 43.3% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,721 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $113,000 after acquiring an additional 1,124 shares during the period. Finally, Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC raised its stake in WaFd by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 48,606 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,423,000 after acquiring an additional 1,630 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.71% of the company’s stock.

WaFd Company Profile

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.