Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC Cuts Stake in WaFd, Inc (NASDAQ:WAFD)

Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC decreased its stake in WaFd, Inc (NASDAQ:WAFD) by 15.4% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 497,893 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 90,370 shares during the quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC’s holdings in WaFd were worth $17,352,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of WAFD. Tidal Investments LLC purchased a new stake in WaFd during the 1st quarter worth $653,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its position in shares of WaFd by 24.1% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 139,530 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,988,000 after acquiring an additional 27,100 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of WaFd by 618.6% in the second quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 47,972 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,371,000 after acquiring an additional 41,296 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in WaFd by 7.4% in 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 purchasing an additional 84,155 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Citigroup Inc. grew its stake in WaFd by 11.9% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 186,174 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $6,488,000 after purchasing an additional 19,751 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.71% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Ryan Mauer sold 12,132 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.33, for a total value of $404,359.56. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 100,376 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,345,532.08. This trade represents a 10.78 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 2.25% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. DA Davidson upped their target price on WaFd from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of WaFd from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 21st. StockNews.com raised shares of WaFd from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $40.00 target price on shares of WaFd in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, WaFd currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $38.00.

WaFd Stock Performance

WaFd stock opened at $35.83 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 1.08. WaFd, Inc has a 12 month low of $25.78 and a 12 month high of $38.62. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $35.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $33.06. The company has a market cap of $2.91 billion, a PE ratio of 14.45 and a beta of 0.84.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The bank reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $389.98 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $190.43 million. WaFd had a net margin of 13.97% and a return on equity of 9.44%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.72 EPS. Research analysts expect that WaFd, Inc will post 2.82 earnings per share for the current year.

WaFd Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. WaFd’s payout ratio is 41.94%.

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.