WaFd, Inc. (NASDAQ:WAFD) Receives $32.90 Consensus Price Target from Brokerages

Shares of WaFd, Inc. (NASDAQ:WAFD) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the five ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $32.90.

WAFD has been the topic of a number of research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $34.00 price target on WaFd in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Wall Street Zen upgraded WaFd from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, February 8th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on WaFd from $33.50 to $30.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on WaFd from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of WaFd in a research note on Monday, December 29th.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Cathy E. Cooper sold 5,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.77, for a total value of $178,981.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 94,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,199,876.35. This represents a 5.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 1.49% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of WaFd

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its stake in shares of WaFd by 42.8% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,174 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 352 shares during the last quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC lifted its stake in shares of WaFd by 57.6% in the 2nd quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 1,327 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 485 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of WaFd by 604.5% in the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,423 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 1,221 shares during the last quarter. Danske Bank A S purchased a new stake in WaFd during the 3rd quarter valued at about $51,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in WaFd by 36.0% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,837 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 486 shares during the period. 83.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

WaFd Stock Performance

WaFd stock opened at $31.40 on Friday. WaFd has a fifty-two week low of $23.75 and a fifty-two week high of $34.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.95. The stock has a market cap of $2.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.87 and a beta of 0.85. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $32.05 and its 200-day moving average price is $31.50.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 16th. The bank reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.76 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $188.32 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $193.36 million. WaFd had a return on equity of 8.67% and a net margin of 17.45%. On average, equities research analysts expect that WaFd will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WaFd Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 13th were issued a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 13th. WaFd’s payout ratio is presently 37.37%.

WaFd Company Profile

Washington Federal, Inc, doing business as WaFd Bank, is a publicly traded bank holding company headquartered in Seattle, Washington. Through its subsidiary, WaFd Bank, the company provides a range of banking and financial services to individuals, small-to-medium enterprises, and commercial clients. Established in 1917 as Ballard Savings & Loan in Seattle, the institution expanded over decades to serve customers across the Western United States under the Washington Federal name and has operated as a public company since the early 1980s.

WaFd Bank’s core offerings encompass deposit accounts such as checking, savings, money market, and certificates of deposit, alongside consumer and commercial lending products.