Waterstone Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBF) Director Sells $526,125.00 in Stock

Waterstone Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBF) Director Patrick S. Lawton sold 37,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.03, for a total transaction of $526,125.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 49,131 shares in the company, valued at $689,307.93. This represents a 43.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Waterstone Financial Stock Performance

Waterstone Financial stock opened at $14.02 on Tuesday. Waterstone Financial, Inc. has a twelve month low of $10.60 and a twelve month high of $16.86. The company has a quick ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The company has a market capitalization of $271.61 million, a P/E ratio of 13.88 and a beta of 0.64. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $13.58 and its 200 day moving average is $14.42.

Waterstone Financial (NASDAQ:WSBF) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The savings and loans company reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter. Waterstone Financial had a return on equity of 5.75% and a net margin of 9.23%.

Waterstone Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 8th were paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, January 8th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.28%. Waterstone Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 59.41%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of WSBF. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Waterstone Financial by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 462,234 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $6,795,000 after acquiring an additional 3,799 shares during the last quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Waterstone Financial by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 431,520 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $5,800,000 after purchasing an additional 3,705 shares during the last quarter. Foundry Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Waterstone Financial by 19.4% in the third quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 205,165 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $3,016,000 after purchasing an additional 33,305 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Waterstone Financial by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 163,551 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $2,198,000 after purchasing an additional 5,029 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in shares of Waterstone Financial by 8.4% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 110,709 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $1,488,000 after buying an additional 8,584 shares during the last quarter. 62.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com lowered shares of Waterstone Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th.

Waterstone Financial Company Profile

Waterstone Financial, Inc operates as a bank holding company for WaterStone Bank SSB that provides various financial services to customers in southeastern Wisconsin, the United States. It operates in two segments, Community Banking and Mortgage Banking. The Community Banking segment offers consumer and business banking products and services, such as deposit and transactional solutions, including checking accounts, online banking and bill pay services, money transfer services, as well as credit, debit, and pre-paid cards; investable funds solutions comprising savings, money market deposits, individual retirement accounts, and certificates of deposit; residential mortgages, home equity loans and lines of credit, personal and installment loans, real estate financing, business loans, and business lines of credit; and fixed and variable annuities, insurance products, and trust and investment management accounts.