WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) Cut to “Sell” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report published on Tuesday.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on WaFd from $37.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. DA Davidson downgraded WaFd from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $35.00 to $32.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $38.00 price objective on shares of WaFd in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of WaFd from $42.00 to $34.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $33.75.

WaFd Stock Up 1.2 %

WAFD opened at $29.69 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $30.81 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $33.84. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. WaFd has a twelve month low of $25.78 and a twelve month high of $38.62. The stock has a market cap of $2.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.68 and a beta of 0.85.

WaFd Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a $0.27 dividend. This is a positive change from WaFd’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.64%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. WaFd’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.77%.

Institutional Trading of WaFd

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in WaFd by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,420,004 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $303,701,000 after buying an additional 166,931 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of WaFd by 5.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,969,790 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $138,347,000 after acquiring an additional 195,845 shares during the period. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in WaFd by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,696,480 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $119,175,000 after acquiring an additional 42,096 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in WaFd by 15.3% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,774,081 shares of the bank’s stock worth $57,196,000 after acquiring an additional 234,977 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in WaFd by 10.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,759,135 shares of the bank’s stock worth $61,318,000 after purchasing an additional 159,750 shares in the last quarter. 83.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About WaFd

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.