WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) Receives Market Perform Rating from Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated their market perform rating on shares of WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) in a research report report published on Monday, Marketbeat reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods currently has a $40.00 price target on the bank’s stock.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of WaFd from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Stephens upped their price objective on WaFd from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, WaFd presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $38.00.

WaFd Trading Down 6.0 %

WAFD stock opened at $34.00 on Monday. WaFd has a 52 week low of $23.36 and a 52 week high of $37.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.11. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $35.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $31.37. The company has a market capitalization of $2.76 billion, a PE ratio of 13.71 and a beta of 0.83.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The bank reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $389.98 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $190.43 million. WaFd had a return on equity of 9.65% and a net margin of 13.97%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.72 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that WaFd will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current year.

WaFd Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 23rd were paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.06%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 23rd. WaFd’s payout ratio is 41.94%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On WaFd

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WAFD. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of WaFd by 80.8% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,188 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 531 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of WaFd by 515.8% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,558 shares of the bank’s stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 1,305 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its position in shares of WaFd by 100.0% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,644 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 822 shares in the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new position in WaFd during the second quarter worth about $80,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in WaFd in the 3rd quarter worth about $194,000. Institutional investors own 83.71% of the company’s stock.

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.