Bank of America Corp DE Acquires New Stake in WaFd, Inc. $WAFD

Key Points

• Bank of America acquired 903,179 WaFd shares worth approximately $34.7 million, giving it a 1.22% stake. BlackRock and other institutions also added positions, with institutional investors collectively owning 83.71% of WaFd.
• Analyst sentiment is cautious: WaFd carries a consensus “Hold” rating from MarketBeat, with a $36.25 average price target after several rating or target reductions.
• WaFd shares opened at $31.51, down 2.4%, while the bank reported quarterly EPS of $0.81—slightly below estimates—but revenue of $205.52 million exceeded expectations. The company also maintains a quarterly dividend of $0.27 per share, representing a 3.4% yield.

Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in shares of WaFd, Inc. (NASDAQ:WAFD - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 903,179 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $34,655,000. Bank of America Corp DE owned 1.22% of WaFd at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in WaFd during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $413,410,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in shares of WaFd in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,489,000. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of WaFd by 8.8% in the 4th quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 525,351 shares of the bank's stock valued at $16,827,000 after purchasing an additional 42,536 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of WaFd by 34.4% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 504,529 shares of the bank's stock valued at $15,842,000 after purchasing an additional 129,041 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in shares of WaFd during the second quarter worth $6,561,000. Institutional investors own 83.71% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings lowered WaFd from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 3rd. DA Davidson dropped their price target on WaFd from $40.00 to $37.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 9th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of WaFd from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, WaFd has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $36.25.

WaFd Stock Down 2.4%

WAFD stock opened at $31.51 on Wednesday. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $36.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $35.17. The company has a market cap of $2.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.94 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98. WaFd, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $26.31 and a fifty-two week high of $39.49.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 17th. The bank reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.82 by ($0.01). WaFd had a net margin of 18.47% and a return on equity of 8.98%. The firm had revenue of $205.52 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $199.56 million. On average, research analysts expect that WaFd, Inc. will post 3.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WaFd Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 21st were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 21st. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. WaFd's payout ratio is presently 34.07%.

WaFd Company Profile

WaFd, Inc NASDAQ: WAFD, formerly known as Washington Federal, is the holding company for WaFd Bank, a regional financial institution serving individuals, families, businesses and commercial real estate customers. The bank provides deposit accounts, residential and commercial real estate lending, consumer loans, business banking, treasury management and online and mobile banking services.

Founded in 1917, WaFd began as a savings and loan institution in Seattle and has expanded into a full-service regional bank.

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