Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Issues Pessimistic Forecast for WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) Stock Price

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) had its price objective lowered by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $42.00 to $34.00 in a research report report published on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a market perform rating on the bank’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on WAFD. StockNews.com raised WaFd from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on WaFd from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 21st. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $38.00 price target on shares of WaFd in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, DA Davidson upped their price target on WaFd from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $36.00.

WaFd Stock Performance

Shares of WAFD stock opened at $29.88 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $2.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.77 and a beta of 0.87. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $34.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $34.43. WaFd has a 12-month low of $25.78 and a 12-month high of $38.62. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21.

WaFd Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 22nd. WaFd’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.93%.

Insider Buying and Selling at WaFd

In other WaFd news, EVP Ryan Mauer sold 12,132 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.33, for a total transaction of $404,359.56. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 100,376 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,345,532.08. This represents a 10.78 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 1.46% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On WaFd

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of WAFD. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of WaFd during the third quarter worth $18,583,000. Systematic Financial Management LP raised its position in shares of WaFd by 21.5% in the 3rd quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 1,432,523 shares of the bank’s stock worth $49,923,000 after buying an additional 253,044 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of WaFd by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,969,790 shares of the bank’s stock worth $138,347,000 after buying an additional 195,845 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of WaFd by 10.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,759,135 shares of the bank’s stock worth $61,318,000 after buying an additional 159,750 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of WaFd by 28.6% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 428,504 shares of the bank’s stock worth $14,933,000 after buying an additional 95,251 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.71% of the company’s stock.

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.