Northern Trust Corp Boosts Stock Holdings in WSFS Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WSFS)

Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of WSFS Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WSFS - Free Report) by 1.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 809,334 shares of the bank's stock after buying an additional 9,542 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp owned about 1.37% of WSFS Financial worth $43,000,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Earnest Partners LLC boosted its holdings in WSFS Financial by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 304,290 shares of the bank's stock valued at $16,167,000 after acquiring an additional 4,325 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of WSFS Financial by 0.9% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its holdings in shares of WSFS Financial by 222.8% in the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 24,153 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,284,000 after purchasing an additional 16,671 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of WSFS Financial by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 17,880 shares of the bank's stock valued at $950,000 after purchasing an additional 546 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of Tennessee Department of Treasury increased its holdings in shares of WSFS Financial by 60.9% in the fourth quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury now owns 25,536 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,357,000 after purchasing an additional 9,663 shares in the last quarter. 88.49% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

WSFS Financial Stock Performance

WSFS traded up $0.58 on Wednesday, reaching $55.67. The company had a trading volume of 101,182 shares, compared to its average volume of 297,767. WSFS Financial Co. has a fifty-two week low of $42.21 and a fifty-two week high of $62.75. The stock has a market cap of $3.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.60 and a beta of 0.86. The company's fifty day moving average is $50.76 and its 200 day moving average is $53.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.83.

WSFS Financial (NASDAQ:WSFS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The bank reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.04 by $0.09. WSFS Financial had a net margin of 18.77% and a return on equity of 10.30%. The business had revenue of $256.11 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $235.44 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.11 EPS. WSFS Financial's quarterly revenue was up 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that WSFS Financial Co. will post 4.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WSFS Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 9th. This is an increase from WSFS Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. WSFS Financial's dividend payout ratio is 15.28%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on WSFS. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of WSFS Financial from $66.00 to $64.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th. Stephens reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $64.00 price objective on shares of WSFS Financial in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $62.75.

Insider Transactions at WSFS Financial

In other news, CEO Rodger Levenson sold 7,199 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.20, for a total transaction of $397,384.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 142,780 shares in the company, valued at $7,881,456. This represents a 4.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.