WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) Price Target Raised to $31.00 at Piper Sandler

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) had its price objective increased by Piper Sandler from $29.00 to $31.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a neutral rating on the bank’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on WAFD. DA Davidson reissued a buy rating and set a $35.00 target price on shares of WaFd in a report on Thursday, April 11th. StockNews.com cut shares of WaFd from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Stephens restated an equal weight rating and issued a $32.00 target price on shares of WaFd in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $33.25.

WaFd Stock Down 3.9 %

NASDAQ:WAFD opened at $27.59 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.07, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.17. The company has a market capitalization of $2.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.49 and a beta of 0.84. WaFd has a one year low of $23.36 and a one year high of $34.07. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $28.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $28.78.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) last issued its earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The bank reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.42. The company had revenue of $171.99 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $170.74 million. WaFd had a return on equity of 10.02% and a net margin of 15.33%. The business’s revenue was down 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.95 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that WaFd will post 2.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WaFd Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 24th will be paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.77%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 23rd. WaFd’s payout ratio is 39.54%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On WaFd

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in WaFd in the 4th quarter worth approximately $15,363,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new position in shares of WaFd during the fourth quarter valued at $9,270,000. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of WaFd by 9.6% during the third quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,201,972 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $56,415,000 after purchasing an additional 192,061 shares in the last quarter. Foundry Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of WaFd by 113.8% during the first quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 261,656 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $7,596,000 after purchasing an additional 139,244 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in WaFd by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,902,461 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $229,408,000 after buying an additional 125,020 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.