Public Sector Pension Investment Board Boosts Stock Position in WaFd, Inc. $WAFD

Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its stake in shares of WaFd, Inc. (NASDAQ:WAFD) by 12.5% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 307,366 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 34,073 shares during the quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board’s holdings in WaFd were worth $9,310,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Caprock Group LLC acquired a new stake in WaFd in the 3rd quarter valued at $318,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of WaFd by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 127,467 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,861,000 after acquiring an additional 4,748 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its position in shares of WaFd by 604.5% during the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,423 shares of the bank’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 1,221 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC grew its position in shares of WaFd by 3,597.1% during the third quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 2,514 shares of the bank’s stock worth $76,000 after buying an additional 2,446 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC raised its stake in WaFd by 4,304.4% in the third quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 29,289 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $887,000 after buying an additional 28,624 shares in the last quarter. 83.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at WaFd

In other news, CEO Brent J. Beardall bought 3,000 shares of WaFd stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 3rd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $16.85 per share, for a total transaction of $50,550.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 6,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $101,100. This trade represents a 100.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Cathy E. Cooper sold 5,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.77, for a total transaction of $178,981.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 94,755 shares in the company, valued at $3,199,876.35. The trade was a 5.30% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 1.49% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded WaFd from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, February 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $34.00 price objective on WaFd in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on WaFd from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of WaFd from $33.50 to $30.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of WaFd in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $32.90.

WaFd Stock Up 0.6%

WaFd stock opened at $32.88 on Tuesday. WaFd, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $23.75 and a fifty-two week high of $34.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.38 and a beta of 0.86. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $32.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $31.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.95.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 16th. The bank reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.76 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $188.32 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $193.36 million. WaFd had a return on equity of 8.67% and a net margin of 17.45%. Analysts predict that WaFd, Inc. will post 2.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WaFd Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 13th will be issued a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 13th. WaFd’s dividend payout ratio is 37.37%.

WaFd Profile

Washington Federal, Inc, doing business as WaFd Bank, is a publicly traded bank holding company headquartered in Seattle, Washington. Through its subsidiary, WaFd Bank, the company provides a range of banking and financial services to individuals, small-to-medium enterprises, and commercial clients. Established in 1917 as Ballard Savings & Loan in Seattle, the institution expanded over decades to serve customers across the Western United States under the Washington Federal name and has operated as a public company since the early 1980s.

WaFd Bank’s core offerings encompass deposit accounts such as checking, savings, money market, and certificates of deposit, alongside consumer and commercial lending products.