Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Buys New Shares in WaFd, Inc (NASDAQ:WAFD)

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in WaFd, Inc (NASDAQ:WAFD) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 15,469 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $499,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in WaFd by 7.4% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,225,248 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $42,700,000 after purchasing an additional 84,155 shares in the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. increased its stake in WaFd by 11.9% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 186,174 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $6,488,000 after purchasing an additional 19,751 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its stake in WaFd by 33.3% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 161,958 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,643,000 after purchasing an additional 40,499 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in WaFd by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 447,621 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $14,431,000 after purchasing an additional 19,117 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in WaFd by 6.7% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 26,463 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $954,000 after purchasing an additional 1,669 shares in the last quarter. 83.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

WaFd Trading Down 2.1 %

Shares of WAFD stock opened at $27.66 on Friday. WaFd, Inc has a 52-week low of $25.79 and a 52-week high of $38.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $29.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $33.03. The company has a market capitalization of $2.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.75 and a beta of 0.83.

WaFd Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were given a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.90%. This is an increase from WaFd’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. WaFd’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.77%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. DA Davidson downgraded shares of WaFd from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $35.00 to $32.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $38.00 target price on shares of WaFd in a research report on Friday, January 17th. StockNews.com raised shares of WaFd from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on shares of WaFd from $37.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of WaFd from $42.00 to $34.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $33.75.

WaFd 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.