WaFd, Inc. (NASDAQ:WAFD) Stock Rated “Hold” by Wall Street Brokerages

Shares of WaFd, Inc. (NASDAQ:WAFD) have been given an average rating of “Hold” by the five research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $36.25.

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on WAFD shares. DA Davidson cut their target price on WaFd from $40.00 to $37.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 9th. Weiss Ratings downgraded WaFd from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 3rd. Finally, Zacks Research lowered WaFd from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 22nd.

WaFd Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:WAFD opened at $30.91 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.75 and a beta of 0.83. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $35.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $35.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. WaFd has a fifty-two week low of $26.31 and a fifty-two week high of $39.49.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 17th. The bank reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.82 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $205.52 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $199.56 million. WaFd had a return on equity of 8.98% and a net margin of 18.47%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that WaFd will post 3.23 earnings per share for the current year.

WaFd Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 21st were issued a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 21st. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.5%. WaFd’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.07%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On WaFd

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WAFD. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC acquired a new position in WaFd during the second quarter worth about $26,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC purchased a new position in WaFd in the second quarter valued at about $308,000. Nykredit A S acquired a new stake in shares of WaFd during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $52,000. Corient Private Wealth LP lifted its position in shares of WaFd by 26.3% during the 2nd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP now owns 68,899 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,644,000 after acquiring an additional 14,326 shares during the period. Finally, VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al purchased a new stake in shares of WaFd during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $376,000. 83.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About WaFd

WaFd, Inc (NASDAQ: WAFD), formerly known as Washington Federal, is the holding company for WaFd Bank, a regional financial institution serving individuals, families, businesses and commercial real estate customers. The bank provides deposit accounts, residential and commercial real estate lending, consumer loans, business banking, treasury management and online and mobile banking services.

Founded in 1917, WaFd began as a savings and loan institution in Seattle and has expanded into a full-service regional bank.