Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC Acquires 85,073 Shares of WaFd, Inc (NASDAQ:WAFD)

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC lifted its stake in WaFd, Inc (NASDAQ:WAFD) by 94.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 175,039 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 85,073 shares during the quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.27% of WaFd worth $5,769,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of WAFD. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in WaFd in the 3rd quarter worth about $35,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in WaFd during the 1st quarter worth about $82,000. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its position in WaFd by 979.4% during the 1st quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 4,091 shares of the bank’s stock worth $134,000 after acquiring an additional 3,712 shares during the period. EMC Capital Management grew its stake in WaFd by 90.2% during the 3rd quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 4,184 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $107,000 after purchasing an additional 1,984 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its position in WaFd by 21.9% in the fourth quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 4,618 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $154,000 after buying an additional 831 shares during the last quarter. 83.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

WaFd Trading Up 3.2 %

NASDAQ:WAFD opened at $27.90 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.81 billion, a PE ratio of 8.18 and a beta of 0.85. WaFd, Inc has a 52-week low of $23.36 and a 52-week high of $34.07. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $27.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $28.24. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 16th. The bank reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.08. WaFd had a return on equity of 11.19% and a net margin of 20.58%. The company had revenue of $166.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $180.45 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.16 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 14.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that WaFd, Inc will post 2.58 EPS for the current year.

WaFd Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were issued a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 22nd. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.73%. This is an increase from WaFd’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. WaFd’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.50%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WAFD has been the subject of several analyst reports. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $35.00 price objective on shares of WaFd in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. StockNews.com lowered WaFd from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on WaFd from $37.00 to $35.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $35.00 price target on shares of WaFd in a report on Thursday, April 11th.

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.