Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. Sells 23,500 Shares of 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. decreased its holdings in WaFd, Inc. (NASDAQ:WAFD - Free Report) by 0.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,672,980 shares of the bank's stock after selling 23,500 shares during the quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. owned 4.58% of WaFd worth $104,974,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in WaFd in the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC raised its position in WaFd by 35.2% in the 1st quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 2,002 shares of the bank's stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 521 shares during the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd raised its position in WaFd by 232.4% in the 1st quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,978 shares of the bank's stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 1,383 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its position in WaFd by 12.7% in the 1st quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,239 shares of the bank's stock worth $121,000 after buying an additional 477 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aquatic Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in WaFd in the 4th quarter worth about $141,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.71% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WAFD has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Stephens boosted 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 boosted their price target on WaFd from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Wall Street Zen upgraded WaFd from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on WaFd from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price target on WaFd from $29.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $32.25.

WaFd Stock Performance

Shares of WaFd stock traded up $1.29 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $31.73. 558,109 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 556,961. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $29.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $28.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.06 and a beta of 0.90. WaFd, Inc. has a one year low of $23.75 and a one year high of $38.62. 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 quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $186.26 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $184.47 million. WaFd had a return on equity of 8.57% and a net margin of 15.57%. On average, equities research analysts expect that WaFd, Inc. will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WaFd Announces Dividend

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

About WaFd

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.