Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Has $2.11 Million Position in WaFd, Inc (NASDAQ:WAFD)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans cut its stake in WaFd, Inc (NASDAQ:WAFD) by 3.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 65,540 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 2,280 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in WaFd were worth $2,113,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp grew its stake in WaFd by 5.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,969,790 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $138,347,000 after purchasing an additional 195,845 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake 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 valued at $61,318,000 after buying an additional 159,750 shares in the last quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP increased its holdings in WaFd by 21.5% in the third 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 last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in 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. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in WaFd by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 929,760 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $29,975,000 after acquiring an additional 22,716 shares during the last quarter. 83.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on WAFD. StockNews.com upgraded shares of WaFd from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on WaFd from $37.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. DA Davidson downgraded WaFd from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $35.00 to $32.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on WaFd from $42.00 to $34.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, 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. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, WaFd presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $33.75.

WaFd Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:WAFD opened at $28.31 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $29.28 and its 200-day moving average is $32.80. The company has a market cap of $2.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.05 and a beta of 0.83. WaFd, Inc has a 52-week low of $25.79 and a 52-week high of $38.62.

WaFd Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.81%. This is a positive change from WaFd’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. WaFd’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.77%.

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.