WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) Price Target Raised to $31.00

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD - Free Report) had its price target upped by Piper Sandler from $29.00 to $31.00 in a report released on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the bank's stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also commented on WAFD. Stephens reiterated an equal weight rating and issued a $32.00 price target on shares of WaFd in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. DA Davidson reiterated a buy rating and set a $35.00 price objective on shares of WaFd in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of WaFd from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, WaFd currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $33.25.

WaFd Trading Down 4.5 %

WAFD traded down $1.34 during trading on Monday, reaching $28.70. 685,303 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 362,712. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.07. WaFd has a one year low of $23.36 and a one year high of $34.07. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $28.02 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $28.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.34 billion, a PE ratio of 10.91 and a beta of 0.84.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The bank reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.31 by $0.42. The company had revenue of $171.99 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $170.74 million. WaFd had a net margin of 15.33% and a return on equity of 10.02%. WaFd's revenue was down 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.95 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that WaFd will post 2.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WaFd Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 23rd. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.62%. WaFd's payout ratio is 39.54%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On WaFd

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WAFD. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of WaFd in the 3rd quarter worth $35,000. EMC Capital Management raised its stake in shares of WaFd by 90.2% during the 3rd quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 4,184 shares of the bank's stock worth $107,000 after purchasing an additional 1,984 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of WaFd by 22.6% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 7,489 shares of the bank's stock worth $192,000 after buying an additional 1,383 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in WaFd in the first quarter worth about $194,000. Finally, Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. raised its holdings in shares of WaFd by 5.7% in the 1st quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 6,887 shares of the bank's stock worth $200,000 after purchasing an additional 373 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.71% of the company's stock.

About WaFd

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.