Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Lowers Position in WSFS Financial Corporation $WSFS

Key Points

• Dimensional Fund Advisors LP reduced its holdings in WSFS Financial Corporation by 2.9%, selling 114,103 shares, and currently owns approximately 6.67% of the company, valued at $196.5 million.
• WSFS Financial reported $1.27 earnings per share for the last quarter, exceeding the consensus estimate by $0.14, with quarterly revenue of $267.50 million, up 0.6% year-over-year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.17, with a dividend yield of 1.2% and a payout ratio of 14.91%, to be paid on August 22nd.

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lessened its holdings in WSFS Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:WSFS - Free Report) by 2.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,788,407 shares of the bank's stock after selling 114,103 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned 6.67% of WSFS Financial worth $196,502,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in WSFS Financial by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,313,175 shares of the bank's stock valued at $122,899,000 after purchasing an additional 19,895 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of WSFS Financial by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 969,476 shares of the bank's stock worth $50,287,000 after acquiring an additional 15,281 shares during the period. Cooke & Bieler LP grew its stake in shares of WSFS Financial by 14.0% during the 1st quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 892,286 shares of the bank's stock worth $46,283,000 after acquiring an additional 109,519 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of WSFS Financial by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 809,334 shares of the bank's stock worth $43,000,000 after acquiring an additional 9,542 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of WSFS Financial by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 748,085 shares of the bank's stock worth $38,803,000 after acquiring an additional 7,501 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 88.49% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on WSFS. Wall Street Zen downgraded WSFS Financial from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. DA Davidson increased their price target on WSFS Financial from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on WSFS Financial from $66.00 to $64.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Stephens reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $64.00 price target on shares of WSFS Financial in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, WSFS Financial has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $66.00.

WSFS Financial Price Performance

NASDAQ WSFS traded up $2.16 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $57.84. The company had a trading volume of 472,775 shares, compared to its average volume of 341,042. WSFS Financial Corporation has a 52 week low of $42.44 and a 52 week high of $62.75. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $55.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $53.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.68 and a beta of 0.89.

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

WSFS Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 8th were paid a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 8th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. WSFS Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 14.91%.

About WSFS Financial

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.