Man Group plc Takes $1.61 Million Position in WaFd, Inc. $WAFD

Man Group plc purchased a new position in WaFd, Inc. (NASDAQ:WAFD) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 41,956 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $1,610,000. Man Group plc owned approximately 0.06% of WaFd at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in WAFD. Assetmark Inc. grew 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 during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its position in shares of WaFd by 42.8% during the second 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 last quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC lifted its position in shares of WaFd by 57.6% during the second 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 last quarter. Danske Bank A S bought a new stake in shares of WaFd in the 3rd quarter valued at about $51,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of WaFd by 712.4% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,901 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 1,667 shares in the last quarter. 83.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on WAFD shares. Zacks Research lowered shares of WaFd from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of WaFd in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Finally, DA Davidson upped their price target on WaFd from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $37.00.

WaFd Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WAFD opened at $35.38 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98. The company has a market cap of $2.62 billion, a PE ratio of 11.16 and a beta of 0.83. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $37.34 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $35.00. WaFd, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $26.31 and a fifty-two week high of $39.49.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 17th. The bank reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.82 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $205.52 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $199.56 million. WaFd had a net margin of 18.47% and a return on equity of 8.98%. As a group, equities analysts expect that WaFd, Inc. will post 3.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WaFd Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 21st will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 21st. WaFd’s payout ratio is currently 34.07%.

About WaFd

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.