WaFd, Inc (NASDAQ:WAFD) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.26

WaFd, Inc (NASDAQ:WAFD) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, November 14th,Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd will be given a dividend of 0.26 per share by the bank on Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd.

WaFd has raised its dividend payment by an average of 4.4% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 14 consecutive years. WaFd has a dividend payout ratio of 36.6% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect WaFd to earn $3.27 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.04 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 31.8%.

WaFd Price Performance

WAFD stock traded down $0.19 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $36.97. The stock had a trading volume of 334,625 shares, compared to its average volume of 448,723. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $35.19 and a 200 day simple moving average of $32.25. WaFd has a 52 week low of $25.78 and a 52 week high of $38.58. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.87 and a beta of 0.83.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The bank reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.01. WaFd had a net margin of 13.97% and a return on equity of 9.44%. The business had revenue of $389.98 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $190.43 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.72 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that WaFd will post 2.83 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the company. DA Davidson boosted their target price on WaFd from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $40.00 price objective on shares of WaFd in a research note on Monday, October 21st. StockNews.com raised shares of WaFd from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Stephens increased their price target on WaFd from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on WaFd from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, WaFd presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $38.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Ryan Mauer sold 12,132 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.33, for a total value of $404,359.56. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 100,376 shares in the company, valued at $3,345,532.08. This represents a 10.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.25% of the company’s stock.

About WaFd

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.