WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume

WaFd, Inc (NASDAQ:WAFD) shares saw unusually-strong trading volume on Thursday . Approximately 737,821 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 78% from the previous session’s volume of 413,564 shares.The stock last traded at $36.50 and had previously closed at $36.07.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WAFD has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded WaFd from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Stephens raised their price objective on WaFd from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $34.25.

WaFd Stock Down 3.3 %

The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $34.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $30.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52. The stock has a market cap of $2.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.38 and a beta of 0.83.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 16th. The bank reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.18. WaFd had a return on equity of 9.58% and a net margin of 14.13%. The business had revenue of $194.44 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $185.36 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.89 EPS. WaFd’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that WaFd, Inc will post 3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WaFd Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Investors of record on Friday, August 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.95%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 23rd. WaFd’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.54%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On WaFd

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WAFD. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its stake in shares of WaFd by 100.0% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,644 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 822 shares during the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new position in WaFd in the 2nd quarter worth about $80,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in WaFd in the first quarter valued at about $194,000. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. raised its position in WaFd by 5.7% in the first quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 6,887 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $200,000 after purchasing an additional 373 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Algert Global LLC acquired a new stake in shares of WaFd during the second quarter valued at about $200,000. 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.