WaFd, Inc (NASDAQ:WAFD) Short Interest Down 31.2% in October

WaFd, Inc (NASDAQ:WAFD) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,520,000 shares, a decrease of 31.2% from the October 15th total of 2,210,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 534,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.8 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Ryan Mauer sold 12,132 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.33, for a total value of $404,359.56. Following the completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 2.25% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of WaFd

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in WaFd by 3.3% in the first quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 11,703 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $340,000 after purchasing an additional 372 shares during the last quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. increased its stake in shares of WaFd by 5.7% in the first quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 6,887 shares of the bank’s stock worth $200,000 after buying an additional 373 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System raised its holdings in WaFd by 1.2% in the second quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 34,000 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $972,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its stake in WaFd by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 41,400 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,443,000 after acquiring an additional 437 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in WaFd by 80.8% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,188 shares of the bank’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 531 shares in the last quarter. 83.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

WaFd Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WAFD opened at $36.96 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.90 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 1.09. WaFd has a 1-year low of $25.78 and a 1-year high of $38.58. The business has a 50-day moving average of $35.21 and a 200-day moving average of $32.28.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) last issued 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. WaFd had a net margin of 13.97% and a return on equity of 9.44%. The company had revenue of $389.98 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $190.43 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.72 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that WaFd will post 2.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WaFd Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be issued a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.81%. WaFd’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.94%.

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.