WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) Price Target Lowered to $30.00 at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) had its price objective trimmed by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $32.00 to $30.00 in a research note released on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a market perform rating on the bank’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the company. StockNews.com raised WaFd from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 12th. DA Davidson lowered WaFd from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $35.00 to $32.00 in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of WaFd from $37.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $29.00 price objective on shares of WaFd in a research note on Monday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, WaFd currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $30.50.

WaFd Stock Performance

NASDAQ:WAFD opened at $27.52 on Wednesday. WaFd has a twelve month low of $23.75 and a twelve month high of $38.62. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.68 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a fifty day moving average of $28.22 and a 200-day moving average of $31.89.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 11th. The bank reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.05. WaFd had a return on equity of 8.78% and a net margin of 12.66%. The firm had revenue of $179.79 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $184.17 million. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that WaFd will post 2.56 EPS for the current year.

WaFd Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a $0.27 dividend. This is an increase from WaFd’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. WaFd’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 40.75%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd raised its stake in shares of WaFd by 983.5% during the fourth quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd now owns 1,116 shares of the bank’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 1,013 shares in the last quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC lifted its stake in WaFd by 112.7% in the third quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 1,323 shares of the bank’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 701 shares during the period. Harbour Investments Inc. boosted its stake in shares of WaFd by 29.6% during the 4th quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 1,752 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of WaFd by 68.4% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,000 shares of the bank’s stock worth $70,000 after acquiring an additional 812 shares during the period. Finally, US Bancorp DE raised its holdings in WaFd by 136.7% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,638 shares of the bank’s stock worth $117,000 after purchasing an additional 2,101 shares in the last quarter. 83.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.