Sei Investments Co. Acquires 103,312 Shares of WaFd, Inc. $WAFD

Key Points

• Sei Investments increased its WaFd stake by 148.9% in the first quarter, adding 103,312 shares for a total of 172,709 shares valued at approximately $5.4 million. Institutional investors collectively own 83.71% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly neutral: WaFd has one Buy rating and four Hold ratings, with an average price target of $37.00. Recent firms raised their targets, while Zacks Research downgraded the stock to Hold.
• WaFd reported quarterly EPS of $0.81, slightly below the $0.82 consensus, but revenue of $205.52 million exceeded expectations. The bank maintains a quarterly dividend of $0.27 per share, equivalent to a 2.9% yield.

Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in WaFd, Inc. (NASDAQ:WAFD - Free Report) by 148.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 172,709 shares of the bank's stock after buying an additional 103,312 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. owned approximately 0.23% of WaFd worth $5,423,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of WaFd by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,980,089 shares of the bank's stock valued at $159,514,000 after buying an additional 26,000 shares in the last quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of WaFd by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 1,557,436 shares of the bank's stock valued at $49,885,000 after acquiring an additional 8,039 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in WaFd by 11.8% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,375,110 shares of the bank's stock worth $41,652,000 after acquiring an additional 145,646 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in WaFd by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 712,302 shares of the bank's stock worth $22,815,000 after acquiring an additional 38,376 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in WaFd by 6.3% during the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 698,303 shares of the bank's stock worth $21,152,000 after acquiring an additional 41,598 shares during the last quarter. 83.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on WAFD. Zacks Research downgraded WaFd from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on WaFd from $30.50 to $36.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on WaFd from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. DA Davidson raised their price target on WaFd from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of WaFd from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $37.00.

WaFd Stock Performance

WaFd stock opened at $37.67 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.97. WaFd, Inc. has a 1-year low of $26.31 and a 1-year high of $39.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.88 and a beta of 0.84. The company's 50-day moving average is $37.00 and its 200 day moving average is $34.42.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, July 17th. The bank reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.82 by ($0.01). WaFd had a net margin of 18.47% and a return on equity of 8.98%. The business had revenue of $205.52 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $199.56 million. Research analysts forecast that WaFd, Inc. will post 3.21 EPS for the current year.

WaFd Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 5th. Investors of record on Friday, May 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 22nd. WaFd's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.07%.

WaFd Profile

Washington Federal, Inc, doing business as WaFd Bank, is a publicly traded bank holding company headquartered in Seattle, Washington. Through its subsidiary, WaFd Bank, the company provides a range of banking and financial services to individuals, small-to-medium enterprises, and commercial clients. Established in 1917 as Ballard Savings & Loan in Seattle, the institution expanded over decades to serve customers across the Western United States under the Washington Federal name and has operated as a public company since the early 1980s.

WaFd Bank's core offerings encompass deposit accounts such as checking, savings, money market, and certificates of deposit, alongside consumer and commercial lending products.

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