Waterstone Financial (NASDAQ:WSBF) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Waterstone Financial (NASDAQ:WSBF) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report released on Wednesday.

Waterstone Financial Price Performance

WSBF opened at $13.82 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $13.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $14.41. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The company has a market cap of $267.73 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.68 and a beta of 0.64. Waterstone Financial has a 12-month low of $10.60 and a 12-month high of $16.86.

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

Waterstone Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 8th were issued a $0.15 dividend. 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 4.34%. Waterstone Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 59.41%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Stephen J. Schmidt sold 2,195 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.76, for a total value of $30,203.20. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 70,078 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $964,273.28. This represents a 3.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Patrick S. Lawton sold 37,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.03, for a total value of $526,125.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 49,131 shares in the company, valued at approximately $689,307.93. This represents a 43.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 67,147 shares of company stock worth $936,511. 8.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Waterstone Financial

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Waterstone Financial by 73.0% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 51,913 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $763,000 after acquiring an additional 21,902 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of Waterstone Financial by 242.1% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 20,824 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $306,000 after buying an additional 14,737 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Waterstone Financial by 0.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 462,234 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $6,795,000 after buying an additional 3,799 shares during the last quarter. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. boosted its position in shares of Waterstone Financial by 165.0% during the third quarter. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. now owns 90,826 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $1,335,000 after buying an additional 56,554 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Waterstone Financial by 26.6% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 71,039 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $1,044,000 after buying an additional 14,919 shares during the last quarter. 62.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Waterstone Financial

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.