Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Grows Stake in Waterstone Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBF)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Waterstone Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBF) by 27.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 24,213 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,226 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Waterstone Financial were worth $325,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WSBF. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in shares of Waterstone Financial by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 77,773 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $1,045,000 after purchasing an additional 3,705 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in Waterstone Financial by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 462,234 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $6,795,000 after buying an additional 3,799 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC increased its position in Waterstone Financial by 33.6% during the third quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 29,082 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $428,000 after buying an additional 7,310 shares during the period. Barclays PLC increased its position in Waterstone Financial by 242.1% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 20,824 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $306,000 after buying an additional 14,737 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its stake in Waterstone Financial by 26.6% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 71,039 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $1,044,000 after buying an additional 14,919 shares during the last quarter. 62.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Waterstone Financial

In other Waterstone Financial news, Director Stephen J. Schmidt sold 2,195 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.76, for a total value of $30,203.20. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 70,078 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $964,273.28. The trade was a 3.04 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Mark Raymond Gerke sold 2,738 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.14, for a total transaction of $38,715.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 30,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $428,922.76. This trade represents a 8.28 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 66,669 shares of company stock worth $929,283 over the last 90 days. 8.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com raised shares of Waterstone Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday.

Waterstone Financial Trading Down 2.4 %

Shares of Waterstone Financial stock opened at $12.41 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 1.48. The company has a market capitalization of $239.76 million, a P/E ratio of 12.29 and a beta of 0.63. Waterstone Financial, Inc. has a 1 year low of $10.60 and a 1 year high of $16.86. The company’s fifty day moving average is $13.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $14.18.

Waterstone Financial (NASDAQ:WSBF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The savings and loans company reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Waterstone Financial had a return on equity of 5.75% and a net margin of 9.23%.

Waterstone Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 8th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 8th. Waterstone Financial’s payout ratio is currently 59.41%.

Waterstone Financial Company Profile

Waterstone Financial, Inc operates as a bank holding company for WaterStone Bank SSB that provides various financial services to customers in southeastern Wisconsin, the United States. It operates in two segments, Community Banking and Mortgage Banking. The Community Banking segment offers consumer and business banking products and services, such as deposit and transactional solutions, including checking accounts, online banking and bill pay services, money transfer services, as well as credit, debit, and pre-paid cards; investable funds solutions comprising savings, money market deposits, individual retirement accounts, and certificates of deposit; residential mortgages, home equity loans and lines of credit, personal and installment loans, real estate financing, business loans, and business lines of credit; and fixed and variable annuities, insurance products, and trust and investment management accounts.