WaFd, Inc (NASDAQ:WAFD) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

WaFd, Inc (NASDAQ:WAFD) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 2,040,000 shares, an increase of 47.8% from the September 15th total of 1,380,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 562,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.6 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on WAFD. StockNews.com cut shares of WaFd from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Stephens boosted their price objective on WaFd from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $34.25.

WaFd Price Performance

NASDAQ:WAFD opened at $35.77 on Friday. 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 firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $34.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $31.03. The firm has a market cap of $2.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.37 and a beta of 0.83.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The bank reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $194.44 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $185.36 million. WaFd had a net margin of 14.13% and a return on equity of 9.58%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.89 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that WaFd will post 3 earnings per share for the current year.

WaFd Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 23rd were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 23rd. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.91%. WaFd’s payout ratio is 41.77%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its stake in WaFd by 100.0% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,644 shares of the bank’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 822 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of WaFd by 515.8% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,558 shares of the bank’s stock worth $54,000 after acquiring an additional 1,305 shares in the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new position in WaFd during the second quarter valued at approximately $80,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in WaFd during the first quarter worth $194,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of WaFd in the 3rd quarter valued at $194,000. Institutional investors own 83.71% of the company’s stock.

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.