Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. Sells 16,295 Shares of WaFd, Inc (NASDAQ:WAFD)

Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of WaFd, Inc (NASDAQ:WAFD) by 48.0% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 17,666 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 16,295 shares during the period. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in WaFd were worth $616,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of WaFd by 80.8% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,188 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 531 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in WaFd by 515.8% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,558 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 1,305 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its stake in shares of WaFd by 100.0% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,644 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 822 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in shares of WaFd by 60.1% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,904 shares of the bank’s stock worth $66,000 after buying an additional 715 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its stake in shares of WaFd by 35.1% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,797 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $97,000 after acquiring an additional 726 shares during the last quarter. 83.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

WaFd Price Performance

Shares of WaFd stock opened at $36.96 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $35.21 and a 200 day moving average of $32.28. WaFd, Inc has a 52 week low of $25.78 and a 52 week high of $38.58. The company has a market cap of $3.00 billion, a PE ratio of 14.90 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The bank reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 prior year, the business earned $0.72 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that WaFd, Inc will post 2.82 earnings per share for the current year.

WaFd Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WAFD has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $40.00 price target on shares of WaFd in a research note on Monday, October 21st. DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of WaFd from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of 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 upgraded shares of WaFd from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $38.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other WaFd news, EVP Ryan Mauer sold 12,132 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.33, for a total transaction of $404,359.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 100,376 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,345,532.08. This trade represents a 10.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 2.25% of the company’s stock.

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.