WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) Reaches New 1-Year High – Should You Buy?

WaFd, Inc (NASDAQ:WAFD)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $38.58 and last traded at $38.58, with a volume of 113928 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $37.15.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $40.00 price target on shares of WaFd in a research note on Monday, October 21st. StockNews.com raised WaFd from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. DA Davidson boosted their price target on WaFd from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of WaFd from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, WaFd has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $38.00.

WaFd Price Performance

The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $35.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $32.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.99 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.08.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The bank reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $389.98 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $190.43 million. WaFd had a return on equity of 9.44% and a net margin of 13.97%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.72 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that WaFd, Inc will post 2.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WaFd Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.80%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. WaFd’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.94%.

Insider Activity at WaFd

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

Institutional Trading of WaFd

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WAFD. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its holdings in WaFd by 17,472.3% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 8,259 shares of the bank’s stock worth $240,000 after purchasing an additional 8,212 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in WaFd by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,902,461 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $229,408,000 after buying an additional 125,020 shares in the last quarter. American International Group Inc. increased its position in WaFd by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. American International Group Inc. now owns 36,637 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,064,000 after buying an additional 1,532 shares in the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co raised its stake in WaFd by 14.3% during the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 71,793 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,084,000 after buying an additional 9,004 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in WaFd by 9.1% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 40,018 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,162,000 after acquiring an additional 3,335 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.71% of the company’s stock.

WaFd Company Profile

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.