WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) Cut to “Sell” at StockNews.com

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) was downgraded by StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday.

Separately, Stephens lifted their price objective on WaFd from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $34.25.

WaFd Stock Performance

NASDAQ:WAFD traded up $0.16 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $34.10. 368,098 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 439,295. WaFd has a one year low of $23.36 and a one year 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 business’s fifty day simple moving average is $35.00 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $30.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.77 billion, a PE ratio of 12.97 and a beta of 0.83.

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

Institutional Trading of WaFd

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of WaFd in the third quarter worth about $194,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new position in WaFd during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $252,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 822 shares during the last quarter. Algert Global LLC acquired a new stake in WaFd in the second quarter valued at approximately $200,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in WaFd by 10.0% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 40,374 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,154,000 after buying an additional 3,674 shares in the last quarter. 83.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

WaFd Company Profile

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.