WaFd, Inc (NASDAQ:WAFD) Shares Bought by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in WaFd, Inc (NASDAQ:WAFD) by 28.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 428,504 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 95,251 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.53% of WaFd worth $14,933,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Amalgamated Bank boosted its stake in WaFd by 13.7% in the third quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 23,493 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $819,000 after acquiring an additional 2,834 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of WaFd by 33.2% during the third quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 32,799 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,143,000 after buying an additional 8,166 shares during the period. Roubaix Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of WaFd during the third quarter worth approximately $3,281,000. State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its position in shares of WaFd by 16.8% during the third quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 46,347 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,615,000 after buying an additional 6,672 shares during the period. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale acquired a new position in shares of WaFd during the third quarter worth approximately $250,000. 83.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

WaFd Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WAFD opened at $36.96 on Friday. WaFd, Inc has a 12 month low of $25.78 and a 12 month high of $38.58. The stock has a market cap of $3.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.90 and a beta of 0.83. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $35.21 and its 200 day moving average price is $32.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 1.09.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The bank reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $389.98 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $190.43 million. WaFd had a return on equity of 9.44% and a net margin of 13.97%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.72 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that WaFd, Inc will post 2.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WaFd Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be issued a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.81%. WaFd’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling at WaFd

In other WaFd news, EVP Ryan Mauer sold 12,132 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.33, for a total transaction of $404,359.56. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 100,376 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,345,532.08. The trade was a 10.78 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 2.25% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on WAFD shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $40.00 price objective on shares of WaFd in a research report on Monday, October 21st. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on WaFd from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on WaFd from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, StockNews.com raised WaFd from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, WaFd presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $38.00.

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.