WaFd, Inc (WAFD) To Go Ex-Dividend on November 22nd

WaFd, Inc (NASDAQ:WAFD) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, November 12th,Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be given a dividend of 0.26 per share by the bank on Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd.

WaFd has increased its dividend payment by an average of 4.4% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 14 consecutive years. WaFd has a dividend payout ratio of 36.6% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect WaFd to earn $3.27 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.04 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 31.8%.

WaFd Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of WAFD traded down $0.19 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $36.97. The stock had a trading volume of 334,627 shares, compared to its average volume of 448,723. WaFd has a 1-year low of $25.78 and a 1-year high of $38.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.91 and a beta of 0.83. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $35.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $32.25. 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 (NASDAQ:WAFD) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The bank reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $389.98 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $190.43 million. WaFd had a net margin of 13.97% and a return on equity of 9.44%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.72 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that WaFd will post 2.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at WaFd

In other news, EVP Ryan Mauer sold 12,132 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 100,376 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,345,532.08. This trade represents a 10.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 2.25% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on WAFD shares. Stephens raised their price target on shares of WaFd from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of WaFd from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $40.00 target price on shares of WaFd in a report on Monday, October 21st. StockNews.com upgraded WaFd from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, DA Davidson upped their price objective on WaFd from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $38.00.

WaFd Company 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.