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

WaFd, Inc (NASDAQ:WAFD) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, May 13th, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be paid a dividend of 0.27 per share by the bank on Friday, June 6th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 23rd.

WaFd has increased its dividend payment by an average of 4.2% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 2 years. WaFd has a payout ratio of 35.8% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect WaFd to earn $2.91 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 37.1%.

WaFd Price Performance

NASDAQ:WAFD opened at $29.76 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $28.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $30.91. The firm has a market cap of $2.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.71 and a beta of 0.85. WaFd has a 1-year low of $23.75 and a 1-year high of $38.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The bank reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $179.79 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $184.17 million. WaFd had a return on equity of 8.78% and a net margin of 12.66%. Equities research analysts forecast that WaFd will post 2.56 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On WaFd

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WAFD. Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in shares of WaFd by 14.5% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 22,011 shares of the bank’s stock worth $629,000 after acquiring an additional 2,783 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in WaFd by 271.2% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 30,794 shares of the bank’s stock worth $867,000 after purchasing an additional 22,499 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its position in WaFd by 26.6% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 48,094 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,375,000 after purchasing an additional 10,092 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its stake in shares of WaFd by 9.2% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 246,467 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $7,044,000 after purchasing an additional 20,865 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC increased its position in shares of WaFd by 862.6% during the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 69,306 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,981,000 after purchasing an additional 62,106 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. DA Davidson lowered shares of WaFd from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $35.00 to $32.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $29.00 price objective on shares of WaFd in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on WaFd from $37.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on WaFd from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded WaFd from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, April 12th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to MarketBeat.com, WaFd has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $30.50.

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.