Insider Selling: Waterstone Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBF) Director Sells $526,125.00 in Stock

Waterstone Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBF) Director Patrick S. Lawton sold 37,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.03, for a total value of $526,125.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 49,131 shares in the company, valued at approximately $689,307.93. This trade represents a 43.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Waterstone Financial Trading Down 0.5 %

NASDAQ:WSBF opened at $13.89 on Thursday. Waterstone Financial, Inc. has a 52 week low of $10.60 and a 52 week high of $16.86. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $13.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $14.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 1.48. The firm has a market cap of $269.09 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.75 and a beta of 0.64.

Waterstone Financial (NASDAQ:WSBF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The savings and loans company reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter. Waterstone Financial had a return on equity of 5.75% and a net margin of 9.23%.

Waterstone Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 8th were paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, January 8th. Waterstone Financial’s payout ratio is 59.41%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Waterstone Financial

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WSBF. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Waterstone Financial by 73.0% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 51,913 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $763,000 after acquiring an additional 21,902 shares during the period. Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of Waterstone Financial by 242.1% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 20,824 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $306,000 after purchasing an additional 14,737 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Waterstone Financial by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 462,234 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $6,795,000 after purchasing an additional 3,799 shares during the period. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. lifted its stake in Waterstone Financial by 165.0% in the third quarter. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. now owns 90,826 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $1,335,000 after purchasing an additional 56,554 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC grew its holdings in Waterstone Financial by 26.6% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 71,039 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $1,044,000 after purchasing an additional 14,919 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Waterstone Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday.

About Waterstone Financial

Waterstone Financial, Inc operates as a bank holding company for WaterStone Bank SSB that provides various financial services to customers in southeastern Wisconsin, the United States. It operates in two segments, Community Banking and Mortgage Banking. The Community Banking segment offers consumer and business banking products and services, such as deposit and transactional solutions, including checking accounts, online banking and bill pay services, money transfer services, as well as credit, debit, and pre-paid cards; investable funds solutions comprising savings, money market deposits, individual retirement accounts, and certificates of deposit; residential mortgages, home equity loans and lines of credit, personal and installment loans, real estate financing, business loans, and business lines of credit; and fixed and variable annuities, insurance products, and trust and investment management accounts.