KBC Group NV Buys 726 Shares of WaFd, Inc (NASDAQ:WAFD)

KBC Group NV increased its stake in WaFd, Inc (NASDAQ:WAFD) by 35.1% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 2,797 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 726 shares during the period. KBC Group NV’s holdings in WaFd were worth $97,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of WaFd by 80.8% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,188 shares of the bank’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 531 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its holdings in WaFd by 100.0% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,644 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 822 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in WaFd by 515.8% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,558 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 1,305 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd boosted its position in WaFd by 60.1% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,904 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $66,000 after acquiring an additional 715 shares during the last quarter. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new stake in WaFd during the 2nd quarter worth about $80,000. 83.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

WaFd Trading Up 2.9 %

NASDAQ WAFD opened at $37.15 on Friday. WaFd, Inc has a 52 week low of $25.78 and a 52 week high of $38.58. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $35.30 and a 200-day moving average price of $32.57. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The company has a market cap of $3.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.98 and a beta of 0.83.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The bank reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $389.98 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $190.43 million. WaFd had a net margin of 13.97% and a return on equity of 9.44%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.72 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that WaFd, Inc will post 2.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WaFd Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd will be given a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.80%. WaFd’s payout ratio is 41.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling at WaFd

In other WaFd news, EVP Ryan Mauer sold 12,132 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.33, for a total transaction of $404,359.56. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 100,376 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,345,532.08. This trade represents a 10.78 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 2.25% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on WAFD shares. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on WaFd from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $40.00 price target on shares of WaFd in a research note on Monday, October 21st. StockNews.com raised shares of WaFd from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of WaFd from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, WaFd currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $38.00.

WaFd Profile

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.