Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Reduces Stock Position in WaFd, Inc (NASDAQ:WAFD)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans reduced its holdings in WaFd, Inc (NASDAQ:WAFD) by 7.3% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 116,138 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 9,177 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in WaFd were worth $3,319,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in WaFd during the 4th quarter valued at about $15,363,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings in WaFd by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 12,054 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $397,000 after purchasing an additional 661 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new position in WaFd during the 4th quarter valued at about $9,270,000. Rafferty Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in WaFd by 25.9% during the 4th quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 87,974 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,900,000 after purchasing an additional 18,098 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hennessy Advisors Inc. bought a new position in WaFd during the 4th quarter valued at about $3,296,000. 83.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of WaFd from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Stephens upped their target price on shares of WaFd from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $34.25.

WaFd Price Performance

Shares of WAFD stock opened at $34.45 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The company has a market capitalization of $2.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.10 and a beta of 0.83. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $35.06 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $30.55. WaFd, Inc has a one year low of $23.36 and a one year high of $37.49.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The bank reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.18. WaFd had a net margin of 14.13% and a return on equity of 9.58%. The firm had revenue of $194.44 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $185.36 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.89 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that WaFd, Inc will post 3 EPS for the current year.

WaFd Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 23rd were given a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 23rd. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.02%. WaFd’s payout ratio is presently 39.54%.

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.