WaFd, Inc. $WAFD Position Lifted by Bridgeway Capital Management LLC

Key Points

• Bridgeway Capital Management increased its stake in WaFd by 8.8% in the fourth quarter, ending with 525,351 shares valued at about $16.8 million.
• WaFd reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $0.83 topping estimates and revenue of $197.66 million beating consensus expectations. Analysts now expect the bank to earn 3.27 EPS for the year.
• The company recently paid a quarterly dividend of $0.27 per share, equal to an annualized yield of about 3.0%, while shares traded around $36.21 near the top of their 52-week range.

Bridgeway Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of WaFd, Inc. (NASDAQ:WAFD - Free Report) by 8.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 525,351 shares of the bank's stock after acquiring an additional 42,536 shares during the period. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC owned about 0.69% of WaFd worth $16,827,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of WAFD. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its position in shares of WaFd by 42.8% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,174 shares of the bank's stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 352 shares during the last quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC increased its position in shares of WaFd by 57.6% in the 2nd quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 1,327 shares of the bank's stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 485 shares during the last quarter. Danske Bank A S bought a new stake in shares of WaFd in the 3rd quarter worth about $51,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of WaFd by 712.4% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,901 shares of the bank's stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 1,667 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its position in shares of WaFd by 95.6% in the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 2,783 shares of the bank's stock worth $89,000 after purchasing an additional 1,360 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.71% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Kim E. Robison sold 22,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.28, for a total transaction of $776,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 116,099 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,095,972.72. The trade was a 15.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.49% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on WAFD shares. Zacks Research raised shares of WaFd from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of WaFd from $30.50 to $36.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of WaFd from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of WaFd from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $34.80.

WaFd Stock Performance

Shares of WAFD opened at $36.21 on Thursday. WaFd, Inc. has a 1 year low of $26.31 and a 1 year high of $38.59. The company has a market cap of $2.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.83 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 0.97. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $35.04 and a 200-day moving average of $33.26.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 17th. The bank reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.09. WaFd had a net margin of 18.25% and a return on equity of 8.94%. The company had revenue of $197.66 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $190.51 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.17 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that WaFd, Inc. will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current year.

WaFd Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. WaFd's payout ratio is 35.29%.

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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