Sean Singleton Sells 1,004 Shares of WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) Stock

Key Points

• WaFd Director Sean Singleton sold 1,004 shares of the company on September 17th at an average price of $31.71, reducing his stake by 9.76% to approximately 9,278 shares.
• The company reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $0.73, exceeding analysts' expectations of $0.67, along with a 15.57% net margin and a revenue of $186.26 million.
• WaFd announced a quarterly dividend of $0.27, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 3.4%, with a payout ratio of 41.06%.

WaFd, Inc. (NASDAQ:WAFD - Get Free Report) Director Sean Singleton sold 1,004 shares of WaFd stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.71, for a total transaction of $31,836.84. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 9,278 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $294,205.38. This trade represents a 9.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

WaFd Stock Down 0.5%

WAFD traded down $0.15 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $31.28. The company had a trading volume of 430,662 shares, compared to its average volume of 546,670. WaFd, Inc. has a 52 week low of $23.75 and a 52 week high of $38.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The company has a market capitalization of $2.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.89 and a beta of 0.93. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $30.59 and its 200 day moving average price is $29.25.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The bank reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $186.26 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $184.47 million. WaFd had a net margin of 15.57% and a return on equity of 8.57%. On average, research analysts anticipate that WaFd, Inc. will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WaFd Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 22nd. WaFd's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.06%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of WaFd by 3.1% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 461,593 shares of the bank's stock valued at $13,192,000 after purchasing an additional 13,972 shares during the period. KBC Group NV raised its position in shares of WaFd by 12.7% in the first quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,239 shares of the bank's stock valued at $121,000 after purchasing an additional 477 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of WaFd by 124.3% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,107,097 shares of the bank's stock valued at $31,641,000 after purchasing an additional 613,596 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of WaFd in the first quarter valued at approximately $708,000. Finally, Aigen Investment Management LP bought a new stake in shares of WaFd in the first quarter valued at approximately $281,000. 83.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WAFD has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of WaFd from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of WaFd from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Stephens lifted their price objective on shares of WaFd from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of WaFd from $29.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of WaFd from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $32.25.

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.