Hennessy Advisors Inc. Grows Stake in WaFd, Inc (NASDAQ:WAFD)

Hennessy Advisors Inc. raised its stake in WaFd, Inc (NASDAQ:WAFD - Free Report) by 10.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 105,000 shares of the bank's stock after acquiring an additional 10,000 shares during the quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. owned approximately 0.13% of WaFd worth $3,001,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its position in shares of WaFd by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 7,424 shares of the bank's stock worth $239,000 after acquiring an additional 338 shares during the period. Harbour Investments Inc. grew its stake in WaFd by 29.6% in the fourth quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 1,752 shares of the bank's stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co increased its holdings in WaFd by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 98,124 shares of the bank's stock worth $3,162,000 after purchasing an additional 433 shares during the period. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in WaFd by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 6,987 shares of the bank's stock worth $225,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of WaFd by 10.3% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 7,633 shares of the bank's stock worth $246,000 after buying an additional 712 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.71% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WAFD has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded WaFd from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, April 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on WaFd from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Stephens reiterated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $29.00 target price on shares of WaFd in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to MarketBeat, WaFd currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $30.50.

WaFd Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of WaFd stock traded up $0.25 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $28.32. The company's stock had a trading volume of 75,532 shares, compared to its average volume of 538,022. The stock has a market cap of $2.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.07 and a beta of 0.85. WaFd, Inc has a twelve month low of $23.75 and a twelve month high of $38.62. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $28.36 and a 200-day moving average of $29.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The bank reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $179.79 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $184.17 million. WaFd had a return on equity of 8.78% and a net margin of 12.66%. Research analysts forecast that WaFd, Inc will post 2.56 EPS for the current year.

WaFd Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 23rd were paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.81%. WaFd's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.75%.

WaFd Company Profile

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.