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 company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.03, for a total value of $526,125.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 49,131 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $689,307.93. This represents a 43.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Waterstone Financial Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WSBF opened at $13.96 on Wednesday. Waterstone Financial, Inc. has a one year low of $10.60 and a one year high of $16.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 1.36. The company has a market cap of $270.45 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.82 and a beta of 0.64. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $13.59 and a 200 day simple moving average of $14.42.

Waterstone Financial (NASDAQ:WSBF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The savings and loans company reported $0.28 earnings per share 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 company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 8th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, January 8th. Waterstone Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 59.41%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its holdings in Waterstone Financial by 27.8% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 9,441 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $127,000 after acquiring an additional 2,055 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new position in shares of Waterstone Financial during the fourth quarter worth $143,000. Quantinno Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Waterstone Financial in the fourth quarter worth $203,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new stake in Waterstone Financial in the third quarter valued at $291,000. Finally, Millennium Management LLC raised its position in Waterstone Financial by 108.7% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 21,882 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $294,000 after purchasing an additional 11,395 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.71% of the company’s stock.

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.