Man Group plc Acquires New Position in WSFS Financial Corporation $WSFS

Man Group plc bought a new position in WSFS Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:WSFS) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 16,486 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $1,265,000.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of WSFS. Root Financial Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of WSFS Financial by 92.4% in the first quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 431 shares of the bank’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 207 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of WSFS Financial during the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Clearstead Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of WSFS Financial by 167.5% during the fourth quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 781 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 489 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP increased its position in shares of WSFS Financial by 159.7% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 813 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the period. Finally, Allworth Financial LP acquired a new position in shares of WSFS Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at $47,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.49% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Shari Kruzinski sold 3,500 shares of WSFS Financial stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.74, for a total value of $286,090.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 15,207 shares in the company, valued at $1,243,020.18. The trade was a 18.71% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Rodger Levenson sold 65,446 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.11, for a total value of $4,850,203.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 186,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,790,981.68. The trade was a 26.02% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on WSFS. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on WSFS Financial from $83.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Weiss Ratings upgraded WSFS Financial from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research note on Monday. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 target price (up from $80.00) on shares of WSFS Financial in a report on Monday, August 3rd. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of WSFS Financial in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Stephens downgraded shares of WSFS Financial from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $87.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $83.07.

WSFS Financial Stock Performance

WSFS opened at $78.61 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $79.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $72.52. WSFS Financial Corporation has a 1 year low of $49.92 and a 1 year high of $82.94. The stock has a market cap of $4.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.15 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.84.

WSFS Financial (NASDAQ:WSFS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The bank reported $1.66 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.16. WSFS Financial had a net margin of 23.34% and a return on equity of 11.71%. The company had revenue of $284.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $278.41 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.27 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that WSFS Financial Corporation will post 6.58 earnings per share for the current year.

WSFS Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 7th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 7th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. WSFS Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.38%.

WSFS Financial Profile

WSFS Financial Corporation is the bank holding company for WSFS Bank, a regional financial institution headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware. The company traces its roots to the Safe Deposit & Trust Company, founded in 1832, and formally organized as WSFS Financial in the mid-1980s. Over its long history, WSFS has grown through a combination of organic expansion and selective acquisitions to serve a broad base of individual, commercial and institutional clients.

WSFS Bank offers a full suite of banking and financial services, including retail and commercial deposit accounts, commercial and industrial lending, real estate financing, and treasury management solutions.