Insider Selling: Waterstone Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBF) CFO Sells $38,715.32 in Stock

Waterstone Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBF) CFO Mark Raymond Gerke sold 2,738 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.14, for a total value of $38,715.32. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 30,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $428,922.76. This represents a 8.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Waterstone Financial Stock Down 0.5 %

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. The company has a market capitalization of $269.09 million, a P/E ratio of 13.75 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. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $13.60 and a 200-day moving average price of $14.42.

Waterstone Financial (NASDAQ:WSBF) last released its quarterly 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 Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, January 8th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.32%. Waterstone Financial’s payout ratio is presently 59.41%.

Institutional Trading of Waterstone Financial

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WSBF. Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its stake in Waterstone Financial by 27.8% in the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 9,441 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $127,000 after purchasing an additional 2,055 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new stake in Waterstone Financial in the fourth quarter worth $143,000. Quantinno Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Waterstone Financial in the fourth quarter worth $203,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new stake in Waterstone Financial in the third quarter worth $291,000. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its stake in Waterstone Financial by 242.1% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 20,824 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $306,000 after purchasing an additional 14,737 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.71% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded Waterstone Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report 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.