Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Raises Holdings in WSFS Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WSFS)

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. increased its position in shares of WSFS Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WSFS) by 1.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 31,725 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 493 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in WSFS Financial were worth $1,686,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in WSFS. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in WSFS Financial by 2,500.0% during the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 572 shares of the bank’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 550 shares in the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC purchased a new stake in shares of WSFS Financial in the 4th quarter worth approximately $84,000. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in shares of WSFS Financial by 68.4% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,885 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $153,000 after purchasing an additional 1,172 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in WSFS Financial by 32.2% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 3,304 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $176,000 after buying an additional 804 shares during the period. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc bought a new position in WSFS Financial in the third quarter worth approximately $202,000. 88.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Rodger Levenson sold 7,199 shares of WSFS Financial stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.20, for a total transaction of $397,384.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 142,780 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,881,456. The trade was a 4.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.29% of the stock is owned by insiders.

WSFS Financial Price Performance

NASDAQ WSFS opened at $52.06 on Tuesday. WSFS Financial Co. has a 12-month low of $41.33 and a 12-month high of $62.75. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $54.21 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $53.95. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.78 and a beta of 1.06.

WSFS Financial (NASDAQ:WSFS) last announced its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The bank reported $1.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.13. WSFS Financial had a return on equity of 10.30% and a net margin of 18.77%. Analysts forecast that WSFS Financial Co. will post 4.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WSFS Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.15%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. WSFS Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.57%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on WSFS shares. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $68.00 price target on shares of WSFS Financial in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on WSFS Financial from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $64.75.

About WSFS Financial

WSFS Financial Corporation operates as the savings and loan holding company for the Wilmington Savings Fund Society, FSB that provides various banking services in the United States. It operates through three segments: WSFS Bank, Cash Connect, and Wealth Management. It offers various deposit products, including savings accounts, demand deposits, interest-bearing demand deposits, money market deposit accounts, and certificates of deposit, as well as accepts jumbo certificates of deposit from individuals, businesses, and municipalities.