WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) Stock Rating Cut to “Hold” at Zacks Research

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) was downgraded by stock analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Tuesday, Zacks reports.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on WaFd from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 19th. DA Davidson set a $31.00 price objective on shares of WaFd in a research report on Monday, October 19th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of WaFd from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Monday, October 19th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of WaFd from $40.00 to $34.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 19th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $32.50.

WaFd Stock Up 1.2%

WaFd stock opened at $30.13 on Tuesday. WaFd has a 1-year low of $28.10 and a 1-year high of $39.49. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $31.47 and a 200-day moving average price of $33.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.39 and a beta of 0.90.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 15th. The bank reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.01. WaFd had a return on equity of 9.37% and a net margin of 18.04%. The company had revenue of $220.44 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $203.66 million. Equities research analysts forecast that WaFd will post 3.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of WaFd during the second quarter worth $413,410,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in WaFd during the second quarter valued at $34,655,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in WaFd during the second quarter valued at $26,489,000. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new position in WaFd during the second quarter valued at $13,371,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in WaFd in the second quarter valued at $6,561,000. 83.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

WaFd Company Profile

WaFd, Inc (NASDAQ: WAFD) is the parent company of WaFd Bank, a regional financial institution that provides banking and lending services to individuals, families, businesses and real estate investors. The bank offers deposit accounts, checking and savings products, residential mortgages, home equity loans, commercial real estate financing, business loans and construction lending.

WaFd Bank also provides treasury management and cash-management services for businesses, along with personal and commercial banking solutions through its branch network and digital banking platforms.