WaFd, Inc (NASDAQ:WAFD) Short Interest Up 74.0% in June

WaFd, Inc (NASDAQ:WAFD) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,724,000 shares, a growth of 74.0% from the May 31st total of 990,800 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 396,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.4 days.

WaFd Price Performance

Shares of WAFD stock traded up $1.04 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $28.58. The stock had a trading volume of 1,029,202 shares, compared to its average volume of 424,797. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $27.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $28.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.33 billion, a PE ratio of 10.87 and a beta of 0.85. WaFd has a 12 month low of $23.36 and a 12 month high of $34.07.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The bank reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by $0.42. WaFd had a net margin of 15.33% and a return on equity of 10.02%. The firm had revenue of $171.99 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $170.74 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.95 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that WaFd will post 2.77 EPS for the current year.

WaFd Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 24th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 23rd. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.64%. WaFd’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.54%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Deutsche Bank AG increased its holdings in shares of WaFd by 13.3% in the 3rd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 31,367 shares of the bank’s stock worth $804,000 after buying an additional 3,686 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of WaFd by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 120,314 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,082,000 after purchasing an additional 2,304 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. purchased a new position in shares of WaFd during the 3rd quarter valued at about $322,000. Teza Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in WaFd in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $228,000. Finally, Alps Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in WaFd by 28.5% in the third quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 12,874 shares of the bank’s stock worth $330,000 after buying an additional 2,853 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on WAFD. StockNews.com downgraded WaFd from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of WaFd from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, May 20th. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and set a $35.00 price target on shares of WaFd in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $32.00 target price on shares of WaFd in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $33.25.

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.