WaFd, Inc. $WAFD Shares Purchased by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Key Points

• Principal Financial Group boosted its WaFd stake by 34.4% in the first quarter, buying 129,041 additional shares and bringing its total holding to 504,529 shares worth about $15.8 million.
• WaFd reported quarterly EPS of $0.81, narrowly missing analyst expectations, though revenue of $205.52 million came in above estimates.
• The bank declared a quarterly dividend of $0.27 per share, equal to an annualized yield of 2.9%, while analysts currently rate the stock a consensus Hold with an average price target of $37.00.

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of WaFd, Inc. (NASDAQ:WAFD - Free Report) by 34.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 504,529 shares of the bank's stock after buying an additional 129,041 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.67% of WaFd worth $15,842,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WAFD. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in shares of WaFd during the 1st quarter worth $1,055,000. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL bought a new stake in WaFd in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,387,000. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its holdings in WaFd by 75,681.1% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 71,992 shares of the bank's stock valued at $2,261,000 after purchasing an additional 71,897 shares during the last quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in WaFd by 8.8% during the fourth quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 525,351 shares of the bank's stock valued at $16,827,000 after purchasing an additional 42,536 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in WaFd by 112.5% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 53,645 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,718,000 after purchasing an additional 28,406 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.71% of the company's stock.

WaFd Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WAFD opened at $36.72 on Friday. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $36.74 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $34.19. WaFd, Inc. has a twelve month low of $26.31 and a twelve month high of $39.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.58 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 16th. The bank reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $199.56 million. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that WaFd, Inc. will post 3.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WaFd Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 5th. Investors of record on Friday, May 22nd were paid a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a 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%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

WaFd Company 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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