WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) Sets New 1-Year Low After Analyst Downgrade

Shares of WaFd, Inc. (NASDAQ:WAFD) reached a new 52-week low during trading on Tuesday after Weiss Ratings downgraded the stock from a buy (b-) rating to a hold (c+) rating. The stock traded as low as $28.10 and last traded at $28.9250, with a volume of 19,880 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $28.42.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on WAFD. DA Davidson set a $31.00 price target on shares of WaFd in a report on Monday. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on WaFd from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Zacks Research raised shares of WaFd from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 5th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on WaFd from $40.00 to $34.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $32.50.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On WaFd

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Baron Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of WaFd by 3.8% in the first quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,720 shares of the bank’s stock worth $274,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares in the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of WaFd by 3.5% in the second quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,514 shares of the bank’s stock worth $403,000 after buying an additional 356 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC purchased a new position in shares of WaFd during the second quarter worth about $26,000. Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in WaFd by 3,620.0% in the first quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 930 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 905 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi grew its position in WaFd by 9.4% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 12,668 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $398,000 after acquiring an additional 1,093 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.71% of the company’s stock.

WaFd Stock Performance

The company has a fifty day moving average price of $33.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $35.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. The stock has a market cap of $2.13 billion, a PE ratio of 8.97 and a beta of 0.89.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 15th. The bank reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.01. WaFd had a net margin of 18.04% and a return on equity of 9.36%. The business had revenue of $220.44 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $203.66 million. Analysts expect that WaFd, Inc. will post 3.52 earnings per share for the current year.

WaFd Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 4th. Investors of record on Friday, August 21st were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 21st. WaFd’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.64%.

About WaFd

WaFd, Inc is a bank holding company headquartered in Seattle, Washington, and the parent company of WaFd Bank. Founded in 1917 as Washington Federal, the company adopted the WaFd name in 2024. WaFd Bank provides banking and financial services to individuals, families, businesses and nonprofit organizations.

The bank offers deposit accounts, residential mortgage lending, home equity financing, commercial real estate loans, commercial and industrial lending, construction financing and consumer banking products.