WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) Hits New 1-Year High After Dividend Announcement

Shares of WaFd, Inc. (NASDAQ:WAFD) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday following a dividend announcement from the company. The stock traded as high as $38.59 and last traded at $35.1450, with a volume of 15339 shares. The stock had previously closed at $35.17.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Friday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 22nd will be paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. WaFd’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.29%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen raised WaFd from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, February 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $34.00 target price on shares of WaFd in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of WaFd from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of WaFd from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, April 17th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of WaFd from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $34.80.

WaFd Trading Down 0.6%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The firm has a market cap of $2.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.43 and a beta of 0.85. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $32.81 and its 200-day moving average is $32.32.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 17th. The bank reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.09. WaFd had a return on equity of 8.94% and a net margin of 18.25%.The firm had revenue of $197.66 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $190.51 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.17 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that WaFd, Inc. will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at WaFd

In other news, EVP Kim E. Robison sold 22,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.28, for a total transaction of $776,160.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 116,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,095,972.72. This trade represents a 15.93% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 1.49% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in WaFd by 3,620.0% in the first quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 930 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 905 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its stake in shares of WaFd by 42.8% in the 2nd 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 period. McIlrath & Eck LLC grew 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 buying an additional 485 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its position in 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 buying an additional 1,221 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Danske Bank A S bought a new stake in WaFd in the 3rd quarter valued at about $51,000. 83.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.