Zacks Research Has Bearish Forecast for WaFd FY2025 Earnings

WaFd, Inc (NASDAQ:WAFD) – Zacks Research decreased their FY2025 earnings per share estimates for WaFd in a report released on Friday, April 4th. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now forecasts that the bank will post earnings per share of $2.56 for the year, down from their previous estimate of $2.57. The consensus estimate for WaFd’s current full-year earnings is $2.56 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for WaFd’s Q1 2026 earnings at $0.72 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $0.75 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $0.71 EPS, FY2026 earnings at $2.91 EPS and Q1 2027 earnings at $0.73 EPS.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of WaFd from $42.00 to $34.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of WaFd from $37.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. DA Davidson downgraded WaFd from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $35.00 to $32.00 in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $38.00 target price on shares of WaFd in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered WaFd from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $33.75.

WaFd Stock Performance

NASDAQ:WAFD opened at $25.11 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $28.96 and its 200-day moving average is $32.39. WaFd has a 1-year low of $24.00 and a 1-year high of $38.62. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. The stock has a market cap of $2.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.57 and a beta of 0.79.

WaFd Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. This is a boost from WaFd’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.30%. WaFd’s dividend payout ratio is 49.77%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On WaFd

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in WaFd during the fourth quarter valued at $1,766,000. Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of WaFd by 33.3% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 161,958 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,643,000 after purchasing an additional 40,499 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of WaFd by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 447,621 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $14,431,000 after purchasing an additional 19,117 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in WaFd by 6.7% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 26,463 shares of the bank’s stock worth $954,000 after purchasing an additional 1,669 shares during the period. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its holdings in WaFd by 20.0% in the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 18,574 shares of the bank’s stock worth $599,000 after purchasing an additional 3,100 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.