WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) Shares Gap Down – What’s Next?

WaFd, Inc (NASDAQ:WAFD) gapped down prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $31.01, but opened at $30.00. WaFd shares last traded at $29.91, with a volume of 151,573 shares changing hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on WAFD. StockNews.com upgraded WaFd from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $40.00 price objective on shares of WaFd in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of 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 lifted their price target on shares of WaFd from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $38.00 price target on shares of WaFd in a report on Friday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $38.50.

WaFd Stock Down 0.6 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.08. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $34.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $34.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.40 and a beta of 0.87.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) last issued 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 business had revenue of $389.98 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $190.43 million. WaFd had a net margin of 13.97% and a return on equity of 9.44%. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.72 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that WaFd, Inc will post 2.82 earnings per share for the current year.

WaFd Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd were issued a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.38%. WaFd’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.94%.

Insider Transactions at WaFd

In other news, EVP Ryan Mauer sold 12,132 shares of WaFd stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.33, for a total value of $404,359.56. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 100,376 shares in the company, valued at $3,345,532.08. This trade represents a 10.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.46% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On WaFd

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WAFD. Cooper Financial Group grew its holdings in shares of WaFd by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 11,134 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $359,000 after acquiring an additional 345 shares in the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its stake in WaFd by 1.1% in the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 41,400 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,443,000 after purchasing an additional 437 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of WaFd by 80.8% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,188 shares of the bank’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 531 shares during the last quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC raised its stake in shares of WaFd by 112.7% during the 3rd quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 1,323 shares of the bank’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 701 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of WaFd by 60.1% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,904 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $66,000 after buying an additional 715 shares during the last quarter. 83.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.