Hennessy Advisors Inc. Buys 1,000 Shares of WaFd, Inc (NASDAQ:WAFD)

Hennessy Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of WaFd, Inc (NASDAQ:WAFD) by 1.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 101,000 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc.’s holdings in WaFd were worth $2,932,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of WAFD. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its position in WaFd by 13.3% in the third quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 31,367 shares of the bank’s stock worth $804,000 after purchasing an additional 3,686 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in WaFd by 2.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 120,314 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,082,000 after purchasing an additional 2,304 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. purchased a new position in WaFd in the third quarter worth $322,000. Teza Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of WaFd during the 3rd quarter valued at $228,000. Finally, Alps Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of WaFd by 28.5% during the 3rd quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 12,874 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $330,000 after buying an additional 2,853 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.71% of the company’s stock.

WaFd Price Performance

NASDAQ WAFD traded up $0.62 during trading on Friday, reaching $28.16. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 276,524 shares, compared to its average volume of 378,389. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.29 billion, a PE ratio of 10.47 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.07, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $27.72 and a 200 day moving average of $28.71. WaFd, Inc has a one year low of $23.36 and a one year high of $34.07.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The bank reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by $0.42. The business had revenue of $171.99 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $170.74 million. WaFd had a return on equity of 10.02% and a net margin of 15.33%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.95 EPS. Analysts expect that WaFd, Inc will post 2.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WaFd Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 24th were paid a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 23rd. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.69%. WaFd’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.54%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WAFD has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Piper Sandler upped their price target on WaFd from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, May 20th. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $32.00 price target on shares of WaFd in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $35.00 price target on shares of WaFd in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, StockNews.com cut WaFd from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $33.25.

WaFd 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.