The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Takes $40.02 Million Position in WSFS Financial Corporation $WSFS

Key Points

• The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired 521,623 WSFS Financial shares valued at approximately $40.02 million, representing about 1.02% of the bank. Institutional investors collectively own 88.49% of the stock.
• WSFS Financial reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $1.66 versus the $1.50 consensus and revenue of $284.7 million, up 5.6% year over year.
• Analysts have a consensus “Hold” rating with an average price target of $83.07, compared with the stock’s recent price of $78.62. The company also maintains a quarterly dividend of $0.20 per share, yielding about 1.0% annually.

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company purchased a new stake in shares of WSFS Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:WSFS - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 521,623 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $40,024,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned about 1.02% of WSFS Financial at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of WSFS. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in WSFS Financial in the second quarter worth $576,695,000. Pzena Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of WSFS Financial during the 2nd quarter worth $68,174,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of WSFS Financial in the 4th quarter worth about $39,193,000. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of WSFS Financial in the 1st quarter worth about $34,313,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in WSFS Financial during the second quarter valued at about $29,722,000. 88.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at WSFS Financial

In other news, EVP Shari Kruzinski sold 3,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 15,207 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,243,020.18. This trade represents a 18.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Rodger Levenson sold 65,446 shares of WSFS Financial stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.11, for a total value of $4,850,203.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 186,088 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,790,981.68. This trade represents a 26.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WSFS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Piper Sandler restated a "neutral" rating and set a $90.00 price objective (up from $80.00) on shares of WSFS Financial in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Stephens downgraded shares of WSFS Financial from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $87.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of WSFS Financial in a research note on Friday, June 12th. DA Davidson set a $83.00 price target on shares of WSFS Financial and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, TD Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of WSFS Financial in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $83.07.

WSFS Financial Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of WSFS Financial stock opened at $78.62 on Thursday. WSFS Financial Corporation has a 52-week low of $49.92 and a 52-week high of $82.94. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $78.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $72.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.15 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.84.

WSFS Financial (NASDAQ:WSFS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The bank reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $284.70 million during 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 company's quarterly revenue was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.27 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that WSFS Financial Corporation will post 6.58 EPS for the current year.

WSFS Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 7th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 7th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. WSFS Financial's dividend payout ratio is currently 13.38%.

WSFS Financial 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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