American Century Companies Inc. Acquires 305,942 Shares of WaFd, Inc (NASDAQ:WAFD)

American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of WaFd, Inc (NASDAQ:WAFD) by 31.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,274,665 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 305,942 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in WaFd were worth $36,430,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of WaFd during the 4th quarter valued at $15,363,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new stake in WaFd during the fourth quarter valued at about $9,270,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in WaFd by 113.4% during the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 272,721 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $7,794,000 after acquiring an additional 144,920 shares during the period. Foundry Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of WaFd by 113.8% in the first quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 261,656 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $7,596,000 after acquiring an additional 139,244 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of WaFd by 1.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,902,461 shares of the bank’s stock worth $229,408,000 after acquiring an additional 125,020 shares during the period. 83.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of WaFd from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Stephens raised their target price on shares of WaFd from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, WaFd presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $34.25.

WaFd Trading Up 1.0 %

WAFD stock opened at $36.33 on Wednesday. WaFd, Inc has a 12 month low of $23.36 and a 12 month high of $37.49. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $34.58 and its 200 day moving average is $30.16. The company has a market capitalization of $2.96 billion, a PE ratio of 13.81 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.09.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The bank reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $194.44 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $185.36 million. WaFd had a return on equity of 9.58% and a net margin of 14.13%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.89 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that WaFd, Inc will post 3 EPS for the current year.

WaFd Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 23rd were issued a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.86%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 23rd. WaFd’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.54%.

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.