Sei Investments Co. Lowers Stake in WaFd, Inc (NASDAQ:WAFD)

Sei Investments Co. cut its stake in WaFd, Inc (NASDAQ:WAFD) by 17.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,910 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 4,557 shares during the quarter. Sei Investments Co.’s holdings in WaFd were worth $626,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WAFD. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its stake in WaFd by 282.6% in the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 36,079 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,019,000 after purchasing an additional 26,648 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in shares of WaFd by 24.1% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 139,530 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,988,000 after buying an additional 27,100 shares during the last quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd bought a new position in shares of WaFd during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,616,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in WaFd by 8.0% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 125,241 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,579,000 after acquiring an additional 9,295 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in WaFd by 618.6% in the second quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 47,972 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,371,000 after acquiring an additional 41,296 shares in the last quarter. 83.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

WaFd Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of WaFd stock opened at $34.18 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 simple moving average is $34.89 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $30.89. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.00 and a beta of 0.83.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The bank reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.18. WaFd had a return on equity of 9.58% and a net margin of 14.13%. The company had revenue of $194.44 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $185.36 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.89 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that WaFd, Inc will post 3 EPS for the current year.

WaFd Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Investors of record on Friday, August 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.04%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 23rd. WaFd’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.54%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on WAFD shares. Stephens upped their price target on WaFd from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. StockNews.com lowered WaFd from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $34.25.

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.