Royce & Associates LP Decreases Position in WSFS Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WSFS)

Royce & Associates LP decreased its holdings in shares of WSFS Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WSFS) by 88.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,732 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 69,436 shares during the quarter. Royce & Associates LP’s holdings in WSFS Financial were worth $464,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in WSFS Financial by 2,500.0% during the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 572 shares of the bank’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 550 shares during the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC acquired a new position in WSFS Financial during the fourth quarter worth approximately $84,000. KBC Group NV increased its position in WSFS Financial by 68.4% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,885 shares of the bank’s stock worth $153,000 after buying an additional 1,172 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in WSFS Financial by 32.2% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 3,304 shares of the bank’s stock worth $176,000 after buying an additional 804 shares during the period. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc acquired a new position in WSFS Financial during the third quarter worth approximately $202,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.49% of the company’s stock.

WSFS Financial Trading Up 0.7 %

NASDAQ:WSFS opened at $52.05 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.78 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $54.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $53.88. WSFS Financial Co. has a 12-month low of $41.33 and a 12-month high of $62.75.

WSFS Financial (NASDAQ:WSFS) last released its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The bank reported $1.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.13. WSFS Financial had a return on equity of 10.30% and a net margin of 18.77%. Equities analysts anticipate that WSFS Financial Co. will post 4.47 EPS for the current year.

WSFS Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. WSFS Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $68.00 price target on shares of WSFS Financial in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on WSFS Financial from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $64.75.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Rodger Levenson sold 7,199 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.20, for a total transaction of $397,384.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 142,780 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,881,456. This represents a 4.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About WSFS Financial

WSFS Financial Corporation operates as the savings and loan holding company for the Wilmington Savings Fund Society, FSB that provides various banking services in the United States. It operates through three segments: WSFS Bank, Cash Connect, and Wealth Management. It offers various deposit products, including savings accounts, demand deposits, interest-bearing demand deposits, money market deposit accounts, and certificates of deposit, as well as accepts jumbo certificates of deposit from individuals, businesses, and municipalities.