Earnest Partners LLC Reduces Position in WSFS Financial Corporation $WSFS

Earnest Partners LLC decreased its holdings in shares of WSFS Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:WSFS) by 8.0% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 168,932 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 14,733 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC’s holdings in WSFS Financial were worth $9,111,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of WSFS. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of WSFS Financial by 7.8% during the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,817 shares of the bank’s stock worth $152,000 after acquiring an additional 203 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in WSFS Financial by 7.2% in the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 3,263 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $177,000 after acquiring an additional 218 shares during the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC grew its position in WSFS Financial by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 4,580 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $247,000 after acquiring an additional 223 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in WSFS Financial by 14.4% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,939 shares of the bank’s stock worth $105,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares during the period. Finally, New York State Teachers Retirement System lifted its position in shares of WSFS Financial by 1.2% during the third quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 24,740 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,334,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. 88.49% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on WSFS. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of WSFS Financial from $63.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of WSFS Financial in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of WSFS Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of WSFS Financial from $62.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $71.00 target price (up from $66.00) on shares of WSFS Financial in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, WSFS Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $70.58.

WSFS Financial Trading Down 0.3%

NASDAQ:WSFS opened at $62.72 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.30 and a beta of 0.76. WSFS Financial Corporation has a 52 week low of $42.44 and a 52 week high of $71.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $62.93 and a 200 day moving average of $57.90.

WSFS Financial (NASDAQ:WSFS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 26th. The bank reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $90.08 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $267.36 million. WSFS Financial had a net margin of 21.14% and a return on equity of 10.89%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.11 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that WSFS Financial Corporation will post 4.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WSFS Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 13th were paid a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 13th. WSFS Financial’s payout ratio is 13.33%.

Insider Activity at WSFS Financial

In related news, EVP James J. Wechsler sold 450 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.89, for a total transaction of $31,450.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 5,777 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $403,754.53. This represents a 7.23% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Arthur J. Bacci sold 2,005 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.51, for a total value of $141,372.55. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 26,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,859,066.66. This trade represents a 7.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 3,455 shares of company stock valued at $242,923 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.21% of the company’s stock.

About WSFS Financial

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.