WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) Stock Rating Reaffirmed by Stephens

Stephens reaffirmed their equal weight rating on shares of WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) in a research report report published on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $32.00 price objective on the bank’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also commented on WAFD. DA Davidson reiterated a buy rating and issued a $35.00 price target on shares of WaFd in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on WaFd from $37.00 to $35.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered WaFd from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st.

WaFd Price Performance

Shares of WAFD opened at $27.92 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $27.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $28.32. WaFd has a 12-month low of $23.36 and a 12-month high of $34.07. The stock has a market cap of $1.81 billion, a PE ratio of 10.62 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80.

WaFd Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 8th. Investors of record on Friday, February 23rd were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This is a positive change from WaFd’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 22nd. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.72%. WaFd’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.54%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On WaFd

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WAFD. Lakeside Advisors INC. boosted its position in shares of WaFd by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter. Lakeside Advisors INC. now owns 8,718 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $223,000 after purchasing an additional 546 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its position in shares of WaFd by 28.6% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its position in shares of WaFd by 23.8% during the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 11,616 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $298,000 after purchasing an additional 2,230 shares in the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of WaFd by 10.5% during the 3rd quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 8,961 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $230,000 after purchasing an additional 853 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of WaFd during the 3rd quarter valued at about $3,732,000. Institutional investors own 83.71% of the company’s stock.

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.