Lord Abbett & CO. LLC Purchases 14,438 Shares of WSFS Financial Corporation $WSFS

Key Points

• Lord Abbett & CO. LLC increased its stake in WSFS Financial Corporation by 11.5%, acquiring 14,438 shares, bringing its total ownership to 140,177 shares valued at approximately $7.27 million.
• WSFS Financial recently reported earnings of $1.27 per share, exceeding analysts' expectations, with revenue reaching $267.50 million for the quarter, marking a 0.6% year-over-year increase.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.17 per share, with an ex-dividend date set for August 8th, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 1.2%.

Lord Abbett & CO. LLC raised its stake in shares of WSFS Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:WSFS - Free Report) by 11.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 140,177 shares of the bank's stock after acquiring an additional 14,438 shares during the quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC owned approximately 0.25% of WSFS Financial worth $7,271,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Boston Partners acquired a new stake in WSFS Financial in the 1st quarter valued at about $17,668,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of WSFS Financial in the 4th quarter worth $18,167,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in WSFS Financial during the first quarter worth about $12,090,000. Cooke & Bieler LP grew its holdings in WSFS Financial by 14.0% during the first quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 892,286 shares of the bank's stock valued at $46,283,000 after purchasing an additional 109,519 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of WSFS Financial by 7,004.2% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 105,711 shares of the bank's stock valued at $5,483,000 after buying an additional 104,223 shares in the last quarter. 88.49% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on WSFS shares. DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of WSFS Financial from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Stephens reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $64.00 price objective on shares of WSFS Financial in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of WSFS Financial from $66.00 to $64.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of WSFS Financial from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, WSFS Financial has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $66.00.

WSFS Financial Stock Down 0.2%

NASDAQ WSFS traded down $0.10 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $55.66. 87,045 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 331,159. WSFS Financial Corporation has a twelve month low of $42.44 and a twelve month high of $62.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.84. The business's 50-day moving average is $55.64 and its 200-day moving average is $53.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.21 and a beta of 0.89.

WSFS Financial (NASDAQ:WSFS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The bank reported $1.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $267.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $221.93 million. WSFS Financial had a net margin of 19.29% and a return on equity of 10.15%. The company's quarterly revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.08 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that WSFS Financial Corporation will post 4.47 earnings per share for the current year.

WSFS Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 8th will be given a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 8th. WSFS Financial's payout ratio is 14.91%.

WSFS Financial Company Profile

WSFS Financial Corporation operates as the savings and loan holding company for the Wilmington Savings Fund Society, FSB that provides various banking services in the United States. It operates through three segments: WSFS Bank, Cash Connect, and Wealth Management. It offers various deposit products, including savings accounts, demand deposits, interest-bearing demand deposits, money market deposit accounts, and certificates of deposit, as well as accepts jumbo certificates of deposit from individuals, businesses, and municipalities.