WaFd, Inc (NASDAQ:WAFD) Shares Bought by Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of WaFd, Inc (NASDAQ:WAFD - Free Report) by 94.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 175,039 shares of the bank's stock after buying an additional 85,073 shares during the quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC owned 0.27% of WaFd worth $5,769,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of WaFd during the third quarter valued at approximately $226,000. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of WaFd by 2.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 120,314 shares of the bank's stock valued at $3,082,000 after purchasing an additional 2,304 shares during the period. Panagora Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of WaFd in the third quarter valued at approximately $3,732,000. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of WaFd by 28.6% in the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 25,099 shares of the bank's stock valued at $643,000 after purchasing an additional 5,580 shares during the period. Finally, Alps Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of WaFd by 28.5% in the third quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 12,874 shares of the bank's stock valued at $330,000 after purchasing an additional 2,853 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.71% of the company's stock.

WaFd Stock Up 3.2 %

Shares of WAFD traded up $0.87 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $27.90. 336,158 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 348,661. WaFd, Inc has a 1 year low of $23.36 and a 1 year high of $34.07. The firm's fifty day moving average is $27.76 and its 200-day moving average is $28.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.18 and a beta of 0.85.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 16th. The bank reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.08. WaFd had a return on equity of 11.19% and a net margin of 20.58%. The firm had revenue of $166.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $180.45 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.16 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that WaFd, Inc will post 2.58 earnings per share for the current year.

WaFd Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 22nd. This is a positive change from WaFd's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. WaFd's dividend payout ratio is currently 30.50%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on WAFD shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on WaFd from $37.00 to $35.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 18th. StockNews.com lowered WaFd from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. DA Davidson restated a "buy" rating and set a $35.00 target price on shares of WaFd in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Stephens restated an "equal weight" rating and set a $35.00 target price on shares of WaFd in a report on Wednesday, January 17th.

WaFd Company Profile

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.