Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. Makes New Investment in WaFd, Inc (NASDAQ:WAFD)

Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. purchased a new position in WaFd, Inc (NASDAQ:WAFD - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 285,672 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $9,210,000. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. owned approximately 0.35% of WaFd as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of WAFD. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in WaFd during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,766,000. LPL Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of WaFd by 16.5% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 47,174 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,521,000 after buying an additional 6,682 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of WaFd by 33.3% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 161,958 shares of the bank's stock valued at $5,643,000 after acquiring an additional 40,499 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in WaFd by 152.9% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 469,704 shares of the bank's stock worth $15,143,000 after acquiring an additional 283,953 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in WaFd by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 447,621 shares of the bank's stock worth $14,431,000 after acquiring an additional 19,117 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.71% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on WaFd from $37.00 to $31.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of WaFd from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, April 12th. Stephens reiterated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $29.00 price objective on shares of WaFd in a research note on Monday, April 14th. DA Davidson downgraded shares of WaFd from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their target price for the company from $35.00 to $32.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on WaFd from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, WaFd has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $30.50.

WaFd Stock Performance

Shares of WAFD traded down $0.24 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $28.80. The stock had a trading volume of 259,260 shares, compared to its average volume of 527,736. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.27 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $27.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $31.18. WaFd, Inc has a fifty-two week low of $23.75 and a fifty-two week high of $38.62.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The bank reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.05. WaFd had a return on equity of 8.78% and a net margin of 12.66%. The firm had revenue of $179.79 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $184.17 million. As a group, research analysts anticipate that WaFd, Inc will post 2.56 EPS for the current year.

WaFd Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were given a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. This is a boost from WaFd's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.75%. WaFd's payout ratio is 40.75%.

WaFd 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.