The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Grows Stock Position in WSFS Financial Corporation $WSFS

Key Points

• The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in WSFS Financial Corporation by 0.8% during Q1, now owning approximately 1.05% of the company valued at $31 million.
• Analysts generally maintain a positive outlook, with a consensus target price of $66.00 and two "buy" ratings for WSFS Financial shares.
• WSFS Financial recently reported an EPS of $1.27, exceeding expectations, along with a quarterly revenue of $267.5 million, reflecting a year-over-year increase of 0.6%.

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in WSFS Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:WSFS - Free Report) by 0.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 597,649 shares of the bank's stock after buying an additional 4,913 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned about 1.05% of WSFS Financial worth $31,000,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of WSFS Financial by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,320,766 shares of the bank's stock valued at $120,379,000 after acquiring an additional 7,591 shares during the period. Aberdeen Group plc boosted its position in WSFS Financial by 2.6% during the first quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 524,841 shares of the bank's stock valued at $27,224,000 after purchasing an additional 13,549 shares in the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC grew its stake in WSFS Financial by 11.5% in the first quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 140,177 shares of the bank's stock valued at $7,271,000 after purchasing an additional 14,438 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners bought a new position in WSFS Financial in the first quarter worth about $17,668,000. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its position in shares of WSFS Financial by 9.0% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 10,357 shares of the bank's stock valued at $537,000 after buying an additional 854 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.49% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on WSFS. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of WSFS Financial from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of WSFS Financial from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $66.00.

WSFS Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WSFS traded down $0.12 on Friday, hitting $58.29. 297,099 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 292,596. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.78 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. WSFS Financial Corporation has a 1-year low of $42.44 and a 1-year high of $62.75. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $56.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $53.64.

WSFS Financial (NASDAQ:WSFS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The bank reported $1.27 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $267.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $221.93 million. WSFS Financial had a return on equity of 10.15% and a net margin of 19.29%.The company's revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.08 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that WSFS Financial Corporation will post 4.47 EPS for the current year.

WSFS Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 8th were issued a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 8th. WSFS Financial's dividend payout ratio is 14.91%.

WSFS Financial Company Profile

WSFS Financial Corporation operates as the savings and loan holding company for the Wilmington Savings Fund Society, FSB that provides various banking services in the United States. It operates through three segments: WSFS Bank, Cash Connect, and Wealth Management. It offers various deposit products, including savings accounts, demand deposits, interest-bearing demand deposits, money market deposit accounts, and certificates of deposit, as well as accepts jumbo certificates of deposit from individuals, businesses, and municipalities.