Insider Selling: Waterstone Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBF) Director Sells 37,500 Shares of Stock

Waterstone Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBF) Director Patrick S. Lawton sold 37,500 shares of Waterstone Financial stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.03, for a total transaction of $526,125.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 49,131 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $689,307.93. The trade was a 43.29 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Waterstone Financial Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WSBF opened at $13.89 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 1.48. Waterstone Financial, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $10.60 and a fifty-two week high of $16.86. The stock has a market cap of $269.09 million, a PE ratio of 13.75 and a beta of 0.64. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $13.60 and a 200-day moving average of $14.42.

Waterstone Financial (NASDAQ:WSBF) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The savings and loans company reported $0.28 earnings per share 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 company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 8th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.32%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, January 8th. Waterstone Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.41%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of WSBF. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Waterstone Financial by 0.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 462,234 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $6,795,000 after buying an additional 3,799 shares in the last quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Waterstone Financial by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 431,520 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $5,800,000 after acquiring an additional 3,705 shares during the last quarter. Foundry Partners LLC increased its stake in Waterstone Financial by 19.4% in the 3rd quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 205,165 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $3,016,000 after acquiring an additional 33,305 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Waterstone Financial by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 163,551 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $2,198,000 after acquiring an additional 5,029 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in shares of Waterstone Financial by 8.4% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 110,709 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $1,488,000 after acquiring an additional 8,584 shares during the last quarter. 62.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Waterstone Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday.

Waterstone Financial Company Profile

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.