Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Reduces Holdings in WaFd, Inc (NASDAQ:WAFD)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lessened its stake in WaFd, Inc (NASDAQ:WAFD - Free Report) by 3.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,383,086 shares of the bank's stock after selling 177,737 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned about 6.60% of WaFd worth $173,552,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of WaFd by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 7,424 shares of the bank's stock valued at $239,000 after purchasing an additional 338 shares during the period. Cooper Financial Group raised its position in shares of WaFd by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 11,134 shares of the bank's stock worth $359,000 after acquiring an additional 345 shares during the period. Harbour Investments Inc. raised its position in shares of WaFd by 29.6% in the fourth quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 1,752 shares of the bank's stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co boosted its stake in shares of WaFd by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 98,124 shares of the bank's stock worth $3,162,000 after acquiring an additional 433 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Summit Investment Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of WaFd by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 6,987 shares of the bank's stock valued at $225,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.71% of the company's stock.

WaFd Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WAFD traded down $0.02 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $28.22. The stock had a trading volume of 60,509 shares, compared to its average volume of 520,594. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04. WaFd, Inc has a 1-year low of $23.75 and a 1-year high of $38.62. The stock has a market cap of $2.30 billion, a PE ratio of 13.01 and a beta of 0.79. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $27.95 and a 200-day moving average price of $31.51.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 11th. The bank reported $0.65 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $179.79 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $184.17 million. On average, equities analysts forecast that WaFd, Inc will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WaFd Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This is a boost from WaFd's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. WaFd's dividend payout ratio is currently 40.75%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.