WaFd, Inc (NASDAQ:WAFD) Short Interest Up 26.8% in December

WaFd, Inc (NASDAQ:WAFD) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,610,000 shares, a growth of 26.8% from the November 30th total of 1,270,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 473,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.4 days.

Insider Transactions at WaFd

In related news, EVP Ryan Mauer sold 12,132 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 100,376 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,345,532.08. This represents a 10.78 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.25% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of WaFd by 5.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,969,790 shares of the bank’s stock worth $138,347,000 after purchasing an additional 195,845 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in WaFd by 10.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,759,135 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $61,318,000 after buying an additional 159,750 shares in the last quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP raised its stake in WaFd by 21.5% in the third quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 1,432,523 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $49,923,000 after buying an additional 253,044 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of WaFd by 31.6% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,274,665 shares of the bank’s stock worth $36,430,000 after acquiring an additional 305,942 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of WaFd by 7.4% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,225,248 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $42,700,000 after acquiring an additional 84,155 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WAFD has been the topic of several analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $40.00 target price on shares of WaFd in a research report on Monday, October 21st. DA Davidson upped their target price on shares of WaFd from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. 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. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of WaFd from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $38.00.

WaFd Stock Performance

Shares of WAFD stock opened at $32.34 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. WaFd has a 52 week low of $25.78 and a 52 week high of $38.62. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $35.26 and a 200 day moving average of $33.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.04 and a beta of 0.84.

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

WaFd Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd were paid a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.22%. WaFd’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.94%.

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.