WaFd, Inc. $WAFD Shares Sold by Systematic Financial Management LP

Systematic Financial Management LP lessened its stake in shares of WaFd, Inc. (NASDAQ:WAFD) by 1.2% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,538,351 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 19,085 shares during the period. WaFd accounts for 1.1% of Systematic Financial Management LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest position. Systematic Financial Management LP’s holdings in WaFd were worth $48,304,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of WAFD. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in WaFd in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,055,000. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL purchased a new stake in shares of WaFd during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,387,000. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its stake in shares of WaFd by 75,681.1% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 71,992 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,261,000 after purchasing an additional 71,897 shares during the period. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of WaFd by 8.8% in the fourth quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 525,351 shares of the bank’s stock worth $16,827,000 after purchasing an additional 42,536 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of WaFd by 37.9% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 191,044 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,999,000 after purchasing an additional 52,500 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WAFD has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of WaFd from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. Weiss Ratings raised shares of WaFd from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of WaFd from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of WaFd from $30.50 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of WaFd from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $37.00.

WaFd Price Performance

WAFD opened at $36.72 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 0.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.71 billion, a PE ratio of 11.58 and a beta of 0.83. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $36.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $34.19. WaFd, Inc. has a 52-week low of $26.31 and a 52-week high of $39.49.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 16th. The bank reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.82 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $205.52 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $199.56 million. WaFd had a net margin of 18.47% and a return on equity of 8.98%. On average, equities research analysts predict that WaFd, Inc. will post 3.21 EPS for the current year.

WaFd Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 5th. Investors of record on Friday, May 22nd were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. WaFd’s payout ratio is currently 34.07%.

WaFd 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.