New Age Alpha Advisors LLC Acquires New Stake in WaFd, Inc. (NASDAQ:WAFD)

Key Points

• New Age Alpha Advisors LLC acquired 11,720 shares of WaFd, Inc., valued around $335,000, marking a significant investment in the bank during the first quarter.
• A consensus rating of "Hold" has been given to WaFd's stock, with analysts raising price targets between $31.00 and $33.00 following positive quarterly earnings results.
• WaFd recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.27 per share, yielding approximately 3.6%, with a payout ratio of 41.06%.

New Age Alpha Advisors LLC bought a new stake in WaFd, Inc. (NASDAQ:WAFD - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 11,720 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $335,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of WaFd by 3.5% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 13,892 shares of the bank's stock worth $397,000 after purchasing an additional 468 shares during the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new position in WaFd during the 1st quarter worth about $263,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its position in shares of WaFd by 14.4% in the 1st quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 21,443 shares of the bank's stock valued at $613,000 after buying an additional 2,696 shares during the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of WaFd in the first quarter valued at about $319,000. Finally, Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of WaFd by 2.7% in the first quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 39,664 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,134,000 after buying an additional 1,050 shares during the period. 83.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

WaFd Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of WAFD stock traded down $0.24 on Thursday, reaching $30.82. 77,785 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 563,915. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The company has a 50-day moving average of $29.57 and a 200-day moving average of $28.95. The company has a market cap of $2.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.72 and a beta of 0.90. WaFd, Inc. has a one year low of $23.75 and a one year high of $38.62.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD - Get Free Report) last issued 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 firm had revenue of $186.26 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $184.47 million. WaFd had a net margin of 15.57% and a return on equity of 8.57%. Analysts anticipate that WaFd, Inc. will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current year.

WaFd Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 22nd. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. WaFd's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.