WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) Sees Large Volume Increase

Shares of WaFd, Inc (NASDAQ:WAFD) saw an uptick in trading volume on Thursday . 737,821 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 78% from the previous session’s volume of 413,564 shares.The stock last traded at $36.50 and had previously closed at $36.07.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on WAFD. Stephens increased their target price on shares of WaFd from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of WaFd from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $34.25.

WaFd Stock Up 0.9 %

The business’s fifty day moving average price is $34.72 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $30.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.71 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.11.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The bank reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $194.44 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $185.36 million. WaFd had a net margin of 14.13% and a return on equity of 9.58%. WaFd’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.89 EPS. Equities analysts expect that WaFd, Inc will post 3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WaFd Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Investors of record on Friday, August 23rd were paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 23rd. WaFd’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.54%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On WaFd

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its holdings in shares of WaFd by 100.0% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,644 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 822 shares in the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of WaFd during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $80,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of WaFd during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $194,000. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. increased its holdings in shares of WaFd by 5.7% during the 1st quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 6,887 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $200,000 after purchasing an additional 373 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Algert Global LLC purchased a new position in shares of WaFd during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $200,000. 83.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About WaFd

WaFd, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Washington Federal Bank that provides lending, depository, insurance, and other banking services in the United States. The company offers deposit products, including business and personal checking accounts, and term certificates of deposit, as well as money market accounts and passbook savings accounts.