SG Americas Securities LLC Sells 29,719 Shares of WaFd, Inc. $WAFD

SG Americas Securities LLC lessened its holdings in shares of WaFd, Inc. (NASDAQ:WAFD) by 55.4% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 23,926 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 29,719 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in WaFd were worth $751,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Baron Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in WaFd by 3.8% in the first quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,720 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $274,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV acquired a new position in WaFd during the 4th quarter worth about $231,000. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new position in WaFd during the 4th quarter worth about $1,368,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of WaFd by 399.4% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 333,712 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $10,689,000 after buying an additional 266,891 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Man Group plc bought a new stake in shares of WaFd in the 4th quarter valued at about $277,000. Institutional investors own 83.71% of the company’s stock.

WaFd Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of WaFd stock opened at $38.00 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.97. WaFd, Inc. has a one year low of $26.31 and a one year high of $39.35. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $36.13 and its 200 day moving average is $33.75. The firm has a market cap of $2.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.42 and a beta of 0.83.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 17th. The bank reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $197.66 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $190.51 million. WaFd had a net margin of 18.25% and a return on equity of 8.94%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.17 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that WaFd, Inc. will post 3.27 EPS for the current year.

WaFd Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 22nd were issued a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 22nd. WaFd’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.29%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WAFD has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on WaFd from $30.50 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on WaFd from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of WaFd from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of WaFd from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $34.80.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Kim E. Robison sold 22,000 shares of WaFd stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.28, for a total transaction of $776,160.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 116,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,095,972.72. The trade was a 15.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.49% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

WaFd Company Profile

Washington Federal, Inc, doing business as WaFd Bank, is a publicly traded bank holding company headquartered in Seattle, Washington. Through its subsidiary, WaFd Bank, the company provides a range of banking and financial services to individuals, small-to-medium enterprises, and commercial clients. Established in 1917 as Ballard Savings & Loan in Seattle, the institution expanded over decades to serve customers across the Western United States under the Washington Federal name and has operated as a public company since the early 1980s.

WaFd Bank’s core offerings encompass deposit accounts such as checking, savings, money market, and certificates of deposit, alongside consumer and commercial lending products.