Equitable Holdings Inc. Acquires Shares of 10,274 WSFS Financial Corporation $WSFS

Equitable Holdings Inc. bought a new position in WSFS Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:WSFS) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 10,274 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $788,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new stake in shares of WSFS Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,050,000. Denali Advisors LLC acquired a new position in WSFS Financial during the fourth quarter worth $2,425,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new position in WSFS Financial during the second quarter worth $1,384,000. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its holdings in WSFS Financial by 25.5% in the 1st quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 66,481 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,352,000 after buying an additional 13,525 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp grew its holdings in WSFS Financial by 11,821.6% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 28,731 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,881,000 after buying an additional 28,490 shares in the last quarter. 88.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

WSFS Financial Price Performance

WSFS stock opened at $78.30 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $79.15 and a two-hundred day moving average of $72.29. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The stock has a market cap of $4.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.09 and a beta of 0.77. WSFS Financial Corporation has a 52-week low of $49.92 and a 52-week high of $82.94.

WSFS Financial (NASDAQ:WSFS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The bank reported $1.66 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.16. WSFS Financial had a return on equity of 11.71% and a net margin of 23.34%.The company had revenue of $284.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $278.41 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.27 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that WSFS Financial Corporation will post 6.58 earnings per share for the current year.

WSFS Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 21st. Investors of record on Friday, August 7th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 7th. WSFS Financial’s payout ratio is 13.38%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WSFS has been the topic of several analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on WSFS Financial from $83.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $90.00 price objective (up from $80.00) on shares of WSFS Financial in a report on Monday, August 3rd. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of WSFS Financial in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Stephens downgraded shares of WSFS Financial from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $87.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, DA Davidson set a $83.00 target price on shares of WSFS Financial and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $83.07.

Insider Activity

In other WSFS Financial news, CEO Rodger Levenson sold 65,446 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.11, for a total transaction of $4,850,203.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 186,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,790,981.68. This trade represents a 26.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Shari Kruzinski sold 3,500 shares of WSFS Financial stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.74, for a total transaction of $286,090.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 15,207 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,243,020.18. This represents a 18.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

WSFS Financial Company Profile

WSFS Financial Corporation is the bank holding company for WSFS Bank, a regional financial institution headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware. The company traces its roots to the Safe Deposit & Trust Company, founded in 1832, and formally organized as WSFS Financial in the mid-1980s. Over its long history, WSFS has grown through a combination of organic expansion and selective acquisitions to serve a broad base of individual, commercial and institutional clients.

WSFS Bank offers a full suite of banking and financial services, including retail and commercial deposit accounts, commercial and industrial lending, real estate financing, and treasury management solutions.