Wall Street Zen Upgrades WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) to "Hold"

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD - Get Free Report) was upgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Stephens restated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $29.00 price objective on shares of WaFd in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of WaFd from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, WaFd has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $32.25.

WaFd Trading Up 0.4%

WaFd stock traded up $0.11 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $30.01. The company's stock had a trading volume of 613,139 shares, compared to its average volume of 536,535. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market cap of $2.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.41 and a beta of 0.84. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $29.34 and a 200-day moving average price of $29.06. WaFd has a 12 month low of $23.75 and a 12 month high of $38.62.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 17th. The bank reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.06. WaFd had a net margin of 15.57% and a return on equity of 8.57%. The firm had revenue of $186.26 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $184.47 million. As a group, analysts forecast that WaFd will post 2.56 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in WaFd during the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd increased its holdings in WaFd by 983.5% during the fourth quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd now owns 1,116 shares of the bank's stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 1,013 shares during the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. increased its holdings in WaFd by 29.6% during the fourth quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 1,752 shares of the bank's stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd increased its holdings in WaFd by 232.4% during the first quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,978 shares of the bank's stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 1,383 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its holdings in WaFd by 35.2% during the first quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 2,002 shares of the bank's stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 521 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.71% of the company's stock.

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.