JPMorgan Chase & Co. Acquires 33,715 Shares of Waterstone Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBF)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Waterstone Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBF - Free Report) by 64.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 85,628 shares of the savings and loans company's stock after buying an additional 33,715 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned 0.44% of Waterstone Financial worth $1,151,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WSBF. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Waterstone Financial by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 462,234 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $6,795,000 after purchasing an additional 3,799 shares in the last quarter. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. boosted its stake in Waterstone Financial by 19.3% during the fourth quarter. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. now owns 108,342 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $1,456,000 after buying an additional 17,516 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in Waterstone Financial by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 77,773 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $1,045,000 after buying an additional 3,705 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC increased its holdings in Waterstone Financial by 33.6% in the 3rd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 29,082 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $428,000 after buying an additional 7,310 shares during the period. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Waterstone Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $365,000. 62.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com cut shares of Waterstone Financial from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Waterstone Financial news, Director Stephen J. Schmidt sold 2,195 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.76, for a total transaction of $30,203.20. Following the sale, the director now owns 70,078 shares of the company's stock, valued at $964,273.28. This represents a 3.04 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Mark Raymond Gerke sold 2,738 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.14, for a total transaction of $38,715.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 30,334 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $428,922.76. This represents a 8.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 66,669 shares of company stock valued at $929,283. 8.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Waterstone Financial Price Performance

Shares of WSBF stock traded down $0.00 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $12.10. The company had a trading volume of 7,541 shares, compared to its average volume of 42,416. Waterstone Financial, Inc. has a 12 month low of $11.46 and a 12 month high of $16.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 1.48. The firm's fifty day moving average is $13.08 and its 200 day moving average is $13.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $233.75 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.96 and a beta of 0.63.

Waterstone Financial (NASDAQ:WSBF - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The savings and loans company reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Waterstone Financial had a return on equity of 5.75% and a net margin of 9.23%. The firm had revenue of $29.67 million during the quarter.

Waterstone Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 8th will be given a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 8th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.96%. Waterstone Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.82%.

Waterstone Financial Profile

Waterstone Financial, Inc operates as a bank holding company for WaterStone Bank SSB that provides various financial services to customers in southeastern Wisconsin, the United States. It operates in two segments, Community Banking and Mortgage Banking. The Community Banking segment offers consumer and business banking products and services, such as deposit and transactional solutions, including checking accounts, online banking and bill pay services, money transfer services, as well as credit, debit, and pre-paid cards; investable funds solutions comprising savings, money market deposits, individual retirement accounts, and certificates of deposit; residential mortgages, home equity loans and lines of credit, personal and installment loans, real estate financing, business loans, and business lines of credit; and fixed and variable annuities, insurance products, and trust and investment management accounts.