WaFd, Inc (NASDAQ:WAFD) Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.26

WaFd, Inc (NASDAQ:WAFD) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, November 14th,Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be given a dividend of 0.26 per share by the bank on Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd.

WaFd has raised its dividend payment by an average of 4.4% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 14 years. WaFd has a dividend payout ratio of 36.6% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect WaFd to earn $3.27 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.04 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 31.8%.

WaFd Stock Down 0.5 %

WAFD stock traded down $0.19 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $36.97. The company had a trading volume of 334,625 shares, compared to its average volume of 448,723. WaFd has a 52 week low of $25.78 and a 52 week high of $38.58. The company has a market capitalization of $3.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.87 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $35.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $32.25.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The bank reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.01. WaFd had a net margin of 13.97% and a return on equity of 9.44%. The business had revenue of $389.98 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $190.43 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.72 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that WaFd will post 2.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at WaFd

In other news, EVP Ryan Mauer sold 12,132 shares of WaFd stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.33, for a total transaction of $404,359.56. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 100,376 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,345,532.08. This trade represents a 10.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 2.25% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $40.00 target price on shares of WaFd in a report on Monday, October 21st. Stephens upped their price objective on WaFd from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on WaFd from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 21st. DA Davidson increased their price target on WaFd from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of WaFd from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $38.00.

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.