Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Issues Pessimistic Forecast for WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) Stock Price

Key Points

• Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut WaFd’s price target from $40 to $34 while maintaining a “market perform” rating, implying roughly 19.4% upside from the reported $28.48 share price.
• WaFd shares fell 2.3% in Monday trading and remained near their 12-month low, with the stock below both its 50-day and 200-day moving averages.
• The bank slightly beat quarterly expectations, reporting $0.85 in earnings per share versus $0.84 expected and revenue of $220.44 million versus $203.66 million; institutional investors own 83.71% of the stock.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD - Get Free Report) had its target price dropped by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $40.00 to $34.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a "market perform" rating on the bank's stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods' target price would indicate a potential upside of 19.40% from the stock's current price.

WAFD has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Zacks Research upgraded shares of WaFd from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, October 5th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of WaFd from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Thursday, September 3rd. DA Davidson lowered their target price on shares of WaFd from $40.00 to $37.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 9th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of WaFd in a research report on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $34.25.

WaFd Stock Down 2.3%

Shares of WAFD stock traded down $0.68 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $28.48. 107,909 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 725,299. WaFd has a 12 month low of $27.91 and a 12 month high of $39.49. The company has a market cap of $2.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.90 and a beta of 0.89. 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 company's 50-day moving average price is $33.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $35.02.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, October 16th. The bank reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $220.44 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $203.66 million. WaFd had a net margin of 18.04% and a return on equity of 9.36%. On average, equities analysts expect that WaFd will post 3.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On WaFd

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in WaFd during the 2nd quarter valued at about $413,410,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in shares of WaFd during the second quarter valued at approximately $34,655,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in shares of WaFd during the second quarter valued at approximately $26,489,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of WaFd by 34.4% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 504,529 shares of the bank's stock valued at $15,842,000 after buying an additional 129,041 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new stake in shares of WaFd during the second quarter valued at approximately $13,371,000. Institutional investors own 83.71% of the company's stock.

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.

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