Pzena Investment Management LLC Makes New $68.17 Million Investment in WSFS Financial Corporation $WSFS

Key Points

• Pzena Investment Management acquired 888,496 WSFS Financial shares worth approximately $68.17 million, representing a 1.71% stake. Institutional investors and hedge funds now own 88.49% of the company.
• WSFS Financial reported quarterly EPS of $1.66, beating analyst expectations of $1.50, while revenue rose 5.6% year over year to $284.7 million.
• The stock opened at $81.81, near its 12-month high of $82.94. Analysts maintain a consensus “Hold” rating with an average price target of $83.07, and the company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.20 per share.

Pzena Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of WSFS Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:WSFS - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 888,496 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $68,174,000. Pzena Investment Management LLC owned 1.71% of WSFS Financial as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp purchased a new position in shares of WSFS Financial in the 2nd quarter worth $891,000. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in WSFS Financial in the second quarter valued at $576,695,000. Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new stake in WSFS Financial during the second quarter valued at about $4,255,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC acquired a new stake in WSFS Financial during the second quarter worth about $140,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in WSFS Financial during the second quarter worth about $29,722,000. 88.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at WSFS Financial

In other WSFS Financial news, CEO Rodger Levenson sold 65,446 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.11, for a total transaction of $4,850,203.06. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 186,088 shares in the company, valued at $13,790,981.68. This trade represents a 26.02% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Shari Kruzinski sold 3,500 shares of WSFS Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.74, for a total value of $286,090.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 15,207 shares in the company, valued at $1,243,020.18. This represents a 18.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

WSFS Financial Price Performance

WSFS opened at $81.81 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $78.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $71.54. The firm has a market cap of $4.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.68 and a beta of 0.76. WSFS Financial Corporation has a twelve month low of $49.92 and a twelve month high of $82.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11.

WSFS Financial (NASDAQ:WSFS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The bank reported $1.66 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $284.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $278.41 million. WSFS Financial had a net margin of 23.34% and a return on equity of 11.71%. The firm's revenue was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.27 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that WSFS Financial Corporation will post 6.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WSFS Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 21st. Investors of record on Friday, August 7th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 7th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. WSFS Financial's dividend payout ratio is currently 13.38%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on WSFS. UBS Group set a $76.00 price objective on WSFS Financial in a research note on Monday, April 27th. DA Davidson set a $83.00 target price on shares of WSFS Financial and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Piper Sandler restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $90.00 price target (up from $80.00) on shares of WSFS Financial in a report on Monday, August 3rd. TD Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of WSFS Financial in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of WSFS Financial from $83.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $83.07.

WSFS Financial Company Profile

WSFS Financial Corporation is the bank holding company for WSFS Bank, a regional financial institution headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware. The company traces its roots to the Safe Deposit & Trust Company, founded in 1832, and formally organized as WSFS Financial in the mid-1980s. Over its long history, WSFS has grown through a combination of organic expansion and selective acquisitions to serve a broad base of individual, commercial and institutional clients.

WSFS Bank offers a full suite of banking and financial services, including retail and commercial deposit accounts, commercial and industrial lending, real estate financing, and treasury management solutions.

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