Short Interest in WaFd, Inc (NASDAQ:WAFD) Increases By 26.8%

WaFd, Inc (NASDAQ:WAFD) saw a significant growth in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,610,000 shares, a growth of 26.8% from the November 30th total of 1,270,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 473,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.4 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at WaFd

In other WaFd news, EVP Ryan Mauer sold 12,132 shares of WaFd stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $3,345,532.08. The trade was a 10.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 2.25% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On WaFd

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its stake in shares of WaFd by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 41,400 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,443,000 after purchasing an additional 437 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in WaFd by 80.8% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,188 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 531 shares in the last quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC grew its stake in shares of WaFd by 112.7% during the third quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 1,323 shares of the bank’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 701 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in shares of WaFd by 60.1% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,904 shares of the bank’s stock worth $66,000 after buying an additional 715 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in shares of WaFd by 35.1% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,797 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $97,000 after acquiring an additional 726 shares in the last quarter. 83.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

WaFd Price Performance

WAFD opened at $32.34 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.63 billion, a PE ratio of 13.04 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $35.26 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $33.93. WaFd has a 52 week low of $25.78 and a 52 week high of $38.62.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The bank reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $389.98 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $190.43 million. WaFd had a return on equity of 9.44% and a net margin of 13.97%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.72 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that WaFd will post 2.82 earnings per share for the current year.

WaFd Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd were issued a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.22%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 22nd. WaFd’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.94%.

WaFd Company 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.