Sanctuary Advisors LLC Boosts Stake in WaFd, Inc (NASDAQ:WAFD)

Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its position in WaFd, Inc (NASDAQ:WAFD) by 10.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 9,958 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 913 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC’s holdings in WaFd were worth $370,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its position in shares of WaFd by 24.1% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 139,530 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,988,000 after purchasing an additional 27,100 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in WaFd by 7.4% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,225,248 shares of the bank’s stock worth $42,700,000 after acquiring an additional 84,155 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. raised its stake in WaFd by 11.9% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 186,174 shares of the bank’s stock worth $6,488,000 after acquiring an additional 19,751 shares during the period. Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in WaFd by 618.6% during the second quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 47,972 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,371,000 after acquiring an additional 41,296 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its stake in WaFd by 33.3% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 161,958 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,643,000 after acquiring an additional 40,499 shares during the period. 83.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other WaFd news, EVP Ryan Mauer sold 12,132 shares of WaFd stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.33, for a total transaction of $404,359.56. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 100,376 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,345,532.08. The trade was a 10.78 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 2.25% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

WaFd Trading Down 1.4 %

WaFd stock opened at $32.61 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $35.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $33.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.65 billion, a PE ratio of 13.15 and a beta of 0.84. WaFd, Inc has a 12-month low of $25.78 and a 12-month high of $38.62.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The bank reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $389.98 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $190.43 million. WaFd had a net margin of 13.97% and a return on equity of 9.44%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.72 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that WaFd, Inc will post 2.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WaFd Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd were given a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.19%. WaFd’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.94%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of WaFd from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 21st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of WaFd from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of WaFd from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $40.00 price objective on shares of WaFd in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $38.00.

WaFd 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.