AlphaQuest LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in WaFd, Inc. $WAFD

Key Points

• AlphaQuest LLC significantly reduced its stake in WaFd, Inc. by 96.7% during the first quarter, ending up with only 1,002 shares valued at approximately $29,000.
• WaFd, Inc. experienced a quarterly earnings beat with an EPS of $0.73, surpassing estimates by $0.06, and reported revenue of $186.26 million.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.27 per share, yielding 3.4%, with the ex-dividend date set for August 22nd.

AlphaQuest LLC lowered its stake in WaFd, Inc. (NASDAQ:WAFD - Free Report) by 96.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,002 shares of the bank's stock after selling 29,022 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC's holdings in WaFd were worth $29,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of WaFd by 124.3% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,107,097 shares of the bank's stock worth $31,641,000 after acquiring an additional 613,596 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of WaFd during the 1st quarter worth about $5,093,000. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of WaFd by 9.8% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,948,534 shares of the bank's stock worth $55,689,000 after acquiring an additional 174,453 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of WaFd by 46.9% during the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 273,094 shares of the bank's stock worth $7,805,000 after acquiring an additional 87,235 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Systematic Financial Management LP raised its position in shares of WaFd by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 1,506,368 shares of the bank's stock worth $48,565,000 after acquiring an additional 73,845 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.71% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler raised their target price on WaFd from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Wall Street Zen raised WaFd from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Stephens raised their target price on WaFd from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on WaFd from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Finally, DA Davidson raised their price target on WaFd from $29.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $32.25.

WaFd Stock Performance

NASDAQ:WAFD traded down $0.19 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $31.30. 268,990 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 336,794. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $30.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $29.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.90 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. WaFd, Inc. has a 1 year low of $23.75 and a 1 year high of $38.62.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The bank reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.06. WaFd had a return on equity of 8.57% and a net margin of 15.57%.The company had revenue of $186.26 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $184.47 million. Analysts anticipate that WaFd, Inc. will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WaFd Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 22nd were paid a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 22nd. WaFd's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.06%.

WaFd Company 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.