Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. Decreases Stake in WaFd, Inc. $WAFD

Key Points

• Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. reduced its stake in WaFd, Inc. by 0.6%, retaining approximately 4.58% of the bank's stock, valued at around $104.97 million.
• Analysts have recently raised their price targets for WaFd, with a consensus target of $32.25 and a majority rating of "Hold" from five research analysts.
• WaFd, Inc. reported earnings of $0.73 EPS for the last quarter, surpassing expectations, and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.27 per share set to pay on September 5th.

Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. lowered its position in shares of WaFd, Inc. (NASDAQ:WAFD - Free Report) by 0.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,672,980 shares of the bank's stock after selling 23,500 shares during the period. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. owned 4.58% of WaFd worth $104,974,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WAFD. Bank of Montreal Can increased its holdings in shares of WaFd by 13.7% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 9,908 shares of the bank's stock worth $319,000 after buying an additional 1,192 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of WaFd by 63.6% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 493,501 shares of the bank's stock worth $15,910,000 after purchasing an additional 191,855 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its position in shares of WaFd by 427.2% in the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 73,429 shares of the bank's stock worth $2,367,000 after purchasing an additional 59,500 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of WaFd in the 4th quarter worth about $1,766,000. Finally, Summit Investment Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of WaFd by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 6,987 shares of the bank's stock worth $225,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.71% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

WaFd Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WAFD traded up $1.29 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $31.73. 558,109 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 455,577. The firm has a market cap of $2.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.06 and a beta of 0.90. WaFd, Inc. has a twelve month low of $23.75 and a twelve month high of $38.62. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $29.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $29.00. 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 (NASDAQ:WAFD - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The bank reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.06. WaFd had a return on equity of 8.57% and a net margin of 15.57%.The firm had revenue of $186.26 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $184.47 million. As a group, analysts anticipate that WaFd, Inc. will post 2.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WaFd Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 5th. Investors of record on Friday, August 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 22nd. WaFd's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.06%.

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.