HB Wealth Management LLC Invests $319,000 in WaFd, Inc. (NASDAQ:WAFD)

Key Points

• HB Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in WaFd, Inc. during Q1 2023, purchasing 11,179 shares valued at approximately $319,000.
• Several institutional investors, including JPMorgan Chase & Co., increased their stakes in WaFd, indicating strong support as institutional ownership now stands at 83.71%.
• WaFd reported $0.73 earnings per share for the last quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations of $0.67, alongside a net margin of 15.57% and a revenue of $186.26 million.

HB Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in WaFd, Inc. (NASDAQ:WAFD - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 11,179 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $319,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WAFD. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of WaFd by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,420,004 shares of the bank's stock valued at $303,701,000 after acquiring an additional 166,931 shares in the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in WaFd by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,696,480 shares of the bank's stock worth $119,175,000 after acquiring an additional 42,096 shares during the last quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP grew its stake in shares of WaFd by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 1,506,368 shares of the bank's stock worth $48,565,000 after purchasing an additional 73,845 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in WaFd by 63.6% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 493,501 shares of the bank's stock valued at $15,910,000 after purchasing an additional 191,855 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in WaFd by 152.9% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 469,704 shares of the bank's stock worth $15,143,000 after purchasing an additional 283,953 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.71% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

WaFd Stock Down 0.7%

NASDAQ:WAFD traded down $0.20 on Wednesday, hitting $29.52. The stock had a trading volume of 150,167 shares, compared to its average volume of 567,761. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. WaFd, Inc. has a 52 week low of $23.75 and a 52 week high of $38.62. The business's fifty day moving average is $29.40 and its 200 day moving average is $28.93. The company has a market cap of $2.37 billion, a PE ratio of 11.22 and a beta of 0.90.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The bank reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $186.26 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $184.47 million. WaFd had a net margin of 15.57% and a return on equity of 8.57%. On average, equities research analysts expect that WaFd, Inc. will post 2.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WaFd Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 23rd were issued a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 23rd. WaFd's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.