WaFd, Inc. Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.27 (NASDAQ:WAFD)

WaFd, Inc. (NASDAQ:WAFD) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, August 11th. Investors of record on Friday, August 21st will be given a dividend of 0.27 per share by the bank on Friday, September 4th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 21st.

WaFd has increased its dividend by an average of 0.0%annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 2 consecutive years. WaFd has a dividend payout ratio of 35.8% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect WaFd to earn $3.38 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.08 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 32.0%.

WaFd Price Performance

WaFd stock traded down $0.30 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $37.76. The stock had a trading volume of 115,014 shares, compared to its average volume of 625,906. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $37.22 and its 200 day moving average is $34.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.92 and a beta of 0.84. WaFd has a one year low of $26.31 and a one year high of $39.49.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 17th. The bank reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.82 by ($0.01). WaFd had a net margin of 18.47% and a return on equity of 8.98%. The business had revenue of $205.52 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $199.56 million. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that WaFd will post 3.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On WaFd

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of WaFd in the 2nd quarter worth about $413,410,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of WaFd by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,980,089 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $159,514,000 after acquiring an additional 26,000 shares during the last quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP grew its position in WaFd by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 1,557,436 shares of the bank’s stock worth $49,885,000 after acquiring an additional 8,039 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in WaFd by 11.8% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,375,110 shares of the bank’s stock worth $41,652,000 after acquiring an additional 145,646 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in WaFd by 28.1% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 905,863 shares of the bank’s stock worth $28,444,000 after acquiring an additional 198,728 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.71% of the company’s stock.

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.