Stephen J. Schmidt Sells 6,211 Shares of Waterstone Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBF) Stock

Waterstone Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBF) Director Stephen J. Schmidt sold 6,211 shares of Waterstone Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.79, for a total value of $85,649.69. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 70,078 shares in the company, valued at $966,375.62. This trade represents a 8.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

Waterstone Financial Price Performance

Shares of Waterstone Financial stock opened at $14.38 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 1.36. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $13.63 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $14.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $278.54 million, a P/E ratio of 14.24 and a beta of 0.64. Waterstone Financial, Inc. has a one year low of $10.60 and a one year high of $16.86.

Waterstone Financial (NASDAQ:WSBF) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The savings and loans company reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Waterstone Financial had a return on equity of 5.75% and a net margin of 9.23%.

Waterstone Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 8th were paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, January 8th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.17%. Waterstone Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.41%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Waterstone Financial

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Fourthstone LLC purchased a new position in shares of Waterstone Financial during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $504,000. Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of Waterstone Financial by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 24,187 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $325,000 after buying an additional 3,363 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its position in shares of Waterstone Financial by 27.8% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 9,441 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $127,000 after purchasing an additional 2,055 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in shares of Waterstone Financial by 8.4% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 110,709 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $1,488,000 after purchasing an additional 8,584 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Waterstone Financial by 64.9% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 85,628 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $1,151,000 after purchasing an additional 33,715 shares in the last quarter. 62.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com raised Waterstone Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th.

About Waterstone Financial

Waterstone Financial, Inc operates as a bank holding company for WaterStone Bank SSB that provides various financial services to customers in southeastern Wisconsin, the United States. It operates in two segments, Community Banking and Mortgage Banking. The Community Banking segment offers consumer and business banking products and services, such as deposit and transactional solutions, including checking accounts, online banking and bill pay services, money transfer services, as well as credit, debit, and pre-paid cards; investable funds solutions comprising savings, money market deposits, individual retirement accounts, and certificates of deposit; residential mortgages, home equity loans and lines of credit, personal and installment loans, real estate financing, business loans, and business lines of credit; and fixed and variable annuities, insurance products, and trust and investment management accounts.