Principal Financial Group Inc. Acquires 95,251 Shares of WaFd, Inc (NASDAQ:WAFD)

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in WaFd, Inc (NASDAQ:WAFD) by 28.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 428,504 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 95,251 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in WaFd were worth $14,933,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in WaFd by 80.8% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,188 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 531 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its holdings in WaFd by 100.0% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,644 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 822 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in WaFd by 515.8% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,558 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 1,305 shares during the period. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new stake in WaFd during the second quarter valued at about $80,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in WaFd during the third quarter valued at about $194,000. 83.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on WAFD shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $40.00 price objective on shares of WaFd in a research report on Monday, October 21st. StockNews.com raised shares of WaFd from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. DA Davidson upped their price objective 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. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of WaFd from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, WaFd presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $38.00.

WaFd Price Performance

Shares of WAFD stock opened at $36.96 on Friday. WaFd, Inc has a 52-week low of $25.78 and a 52-week high of $38.58. The stock has a market cap of $3.00 billion, a PE ratio of 14.90 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.08. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $35.21 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $32.28.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The bank reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 net margin of 13.97% and a return on equity of 9.44%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.72 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that WaFd, Inc will post 2.82 EPS for the current year.

WaFd Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be issued a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.81%. WaFd’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.94%.

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.