Congress Asset Management Co. Grows Holdings in WaFd, Inc. $WAFD

Key Points

• Congress Asset Management increased its WaFd stake by 21.6% in the third quarter, adding 60,135 shares to own 338,027 shares valued at approximately $10.1 million. Institutional investors collectively hold 83.71% of the company.
• Analyst views remain mixed, but WaFd carries a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating with an average price target of $35.25; recent firms lowered their targets while Zacks upgraded the stock to “strong buy.”
• WaFd shares opened at $29.47, near the lower end of their 52-week range, while the bank reported quarterly EPS of $0.81—slightly below estimates—and maintains a quarterly dividend of $0.27, or a 3.7% annualized yield.

Congress Asset Management Co. increased its position in WaFd, Inc. (NASDAQ:WAFD - Free Report) by 21.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 338,027 shares of the bank's stock after buying an additional 60,135 shares during the quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. owned 0.46% of WaFd worth $10,117,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC bought a new position in shares of WaFd during the second quarter valued at $26,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC bought a new stake in shares of WaFd in the second quarter worth $308,000. Nykredit A S acquired a new stake in WaFd in the second quarter valued at $52,000. Corient Private Wealth LP increased its holdings in WaFd by 26.3% in the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP now owns 68,899 shares of the bank's stock valued at $2,644,000 after purchasing an additional 14,326 shares during the period. Finally, VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new position in WaFd during the 2nd quarter worth $376,000. Institutional investors own 83.71% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on WAFD shares. Weiss Ratings downgraded WaFd from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Thursday, September 3rd. DA Davidson decreased their price target on WaFd from $40.00 to $37.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 9th. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on WaFd from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 1st. Finally, Zacks Research raised WaFd from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $35.25.

WaFd Stock Performance

Shares of WaFd stock opened at $29.47 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $34.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $35.12. WaFd, Inc. has a 1-year low of $26.31 and a 1-year high of $39.49. The company has a market cap of $2.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.30 and a beta of 0.89.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 17th. The bank reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.82 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $205.52 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $199.56 million. WaFd had a net margin of 18.47% and a return on equity of 8.98%. As a group, analysts anticipate that WaFd, Inc. will post 3.22 EPS for the current year.

WaFd Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 21st were issued a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 21st. WaFd's payout ratio is presently 34.07%.

WaFd Profile

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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