Victory Capital Management Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in WaFd, Inc. (NASDAQ:WAFD)

Key Points

• Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in WaFd, Inc. by 46.9%, acquiring an additional 87,235 shares, bringing its total to 273,094 shares valued at approximately $7.8 million.
• Analysts have recently upgraded WaFd's stock rating from "sell" to "hold," with multiple firms increasing their price targets, now averaging around $32.25.
• WaFd reported a quarterly earnings per share of $0.73, exceeding analysts' expectations of $0.67, alongside a dividend yield of 3.63% based on a recent quarterly dividend of $0.27.

Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of WaFd, Inc. (NASDAQ:WAFD - Free Report) by 46.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 273,094 shares of the bank's stock after acquiring an additional 87,235 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned 0.33% of WaFd worth $7,805,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of WaFd by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,420,004 shares of the bank's stock worth $303,701,000 after purchasing an additional 166,931 shares during the period. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of WaFd by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,696,480 shares of the bank's stock valued at $119,175,000 after buying an additional 42,096 shares during the last quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP grew its position in shares of WaFd by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 1,506,368 shares of the bank's stock valued at $48,565,000 after buying an additional 73,845 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of WaFd by 63.6% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 493,501 shares of the bank's stock valued at $15,910,000 after buying an additional 191,855 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of WaFd by 152.9% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 469,704 shares of the bank's stock valued at $15,143,000 after buying an additional 283,953 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.71% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of WaFd from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of WaFd from $29.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of WaFd from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of WaFd from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Stephens raised their price objective on shares of WaFd from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $32.25.

WaFd Price Performance

WAFD traded down $0.30 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $29.44. 31,854 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 566,285. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.36 billion, a PE ratio of 11.19 and a beta of 0.84. The business's 50-day moving average price is $29.35 and its 200 day moving average price is $28.99. WaFd, Inc. has a 1-year low of $23.75 and a 1-year high of $38.62.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The bank reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.06. WaFd had a net margin of 15.57% and a return on equity of 8.57%. The firm had revenue of $186.26 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $184.47 million. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that WaFd, Inc. will post 2.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WaFd Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 23rd were issued a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.67%. WaFd's payout ratio is 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.