LMR Partners LLP Buys New Stake in WSFS Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WSFS)

LMR Partners LLP bought a new stake in shares of WSFS Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WSFS) in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 4,645 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $237,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in WSFS Financial by 5.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,338,200 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $331,246,000 after buying an additional 372,402 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in WSFS Financial by 2.9% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,903,255 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $183,450,000 after buying an additional 110,279 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in WSFS Financial by 27.9% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 877,467 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $41,241,000 after buying an additional 191,566 shares in the last quarter. abrdn plc increased its holdings in WSFS Financial by 1.0% in the third quarter. abrdn plc now owns 620,808 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $31,655,000 after buying an additional 6,380 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in WSFS Financial by 35.8% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 201,985 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $9,119,000 after buying an additional 53,292 shares in the last quarter. 88.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

WSFS Financial Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WSFS opened at $57.50 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $3.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.13 and a beta of 1.02. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $52.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $49.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.86. WSFS Financial Co. has a 1-year low of $37.09 and a 1-year high of $60.54.

WSFS Financial (NASDAQ:WSFS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $1.08 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.02. WSFS Financial had a net margin of 18.78% and a return on equity of 10.56%. The company had revenue of $267.61 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $260.35 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.23 EPS. The business’s revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that WSFS Financial Co. will post 4.27 EPS for the current year.

WSFS Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.04%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. WSFS Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.70%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on WSFS shares. Stephens lifted their price objective on shares of WSFS Financial from $54.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of WSFS Financial from $48.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of WSFS Financial from $59.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $54.00 target price (down previously from $58.00) on shares of WSFS Financial in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of WSFS Financial in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $59.75.

WSFS Financial Profile

WSFS Financial Corporation operates as the savings and loan holding company for the Wilmington Savings Fund Society, FSB that provides various banking services in the United States. It operates through three segments: WSFS Bank, Cash Connect, and Wealth Management. It offers various deposit products, including savings accounts, demand deposits, interest-bearing demand deposits, money market deposit accounts, and certificates of deposit, as well as accepts jumbo certificates of deposit from individuals, businesses, and municipalities.