Strs Ohio Has $894,000 Position in WaFd, Inc. $WAFD

Strs Ohio raised its stake in WaFd, Inc. (NASDAQ:WAFD) by 4,816.7% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 29,500 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 28,900 shares during the period. Strs Ohio’s holdings in WaFd were worth $894,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of WaFd by 4.5% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,036,490 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $59,628,000 after purchasing an additional 87,956 shares during the last quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP grew its position in WaFd by 0.7% in the second quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 1,541,973 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $45,149,000 after purchasing an additional 10,646 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in WaFd by 4.2% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,229,464 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $35,999,000 after buying an additional 49,049 shares during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted its position in WaFd by 8.3% during the 2nd quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 962,787 shares of the bank’s stock worth $28,190,000 after buying an additional 74,017 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of WaFd by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 656,705 shares of the bank’s stock worth $19,228,000 after buying an additional 18,401 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on WAFD. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of WaFd in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $34.00 target price on shares of WaFd in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of WaFd from $33.50 to $30.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of WaFd from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 17th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of WaFd from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $32.90.

Insider Activity at WaFd

In other news, CEO Brent J. Beardall acquired 3,000 shares of WaFd stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 3rd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $16.85 per share, for a total transaction of $50,550.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 6,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $101,100. The trade was a 100.00% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.49% of the company’s stock.

WaFd Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of WAFD stock opened at $31.95 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $32.53 and a 200 day simple moving average of $31.03. The stock has a market cap of $2.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.06 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. WaFd, Inc. has a 1 year low of $23.75 and a 1 year high of $33.92.

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

WaFd Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 21st were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 21st. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. WaFd’s dividend payout ratio is 37.37%.

WaFd 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.