WaFd, Inc. (NASDAQ:WAFD) to Issue $0.27 Quarterly Dividend

WaFd, Inc. (NASDAQ:WAFD) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, May 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 22nd will be paid a dividend of 0.27 per share by the bank on Friday, June 5th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 22nd.

WaFd has increased its dividend by an average of 0.0%annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 2 years. WaFd has a payout ratio of 35.8% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect WaFd to earn $3.43 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.08 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 31.5%.

WaFd Price Performance

WaFd stock traded down $0.41 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $34.76. The company had a trading volume of 175,495 shares, compared to its average volume of 652,098. WaFd has a 1 year low of $26.31 and a 1 year high of $38.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The company has a market capitalization of $2.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.35 and a beta of 0.85. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $32.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $32.32.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 17th. The bank reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.09. WaFd had a net margin of 18.25% and a return on equity of 8.94%. The company had revenue of $197.66 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $190.51 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.17 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that WaFd will post 3.27 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings raised shares of WaFd from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on WaFd from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Wall Street Zen upgraded WaFd from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, February 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $34.00 target price on WaFd in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their target price on WaFd from $30.50 to $36.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $34.80.

WaFd Company Profile

Washington Federal, Inc, doing business as WaFd Bank, is a publicly traded bank holding company headquartered in Seattle, Washington. Through its subsidiary, WaFd Bank, the company provides a range of banking and financial services to individuals, small-to-medium enterprises, and commercial clients. Established in 1917 as Ballard Savings & Loan in Seattle, the institution expanded over decades to serve customers across the Western United States under the Washington Federal name and has operated as a public company since the early 1980s.

WaFd Bank’s core offerings encompass deposit accounts such as checking, savings, money market, and certificates of deposit, alongside consumer and commercial lending products.