Short Interest in Waterstone Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBF) Decreases By 32.2%

Waterstone Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBF - Get Free Report) saw a large decrease in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 70,700 shares, a decrease of 32.2% from the February 13th total of 104,300 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 50,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.4 days. Currently, 0.5% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Insider Transactions at Waterstone Financial

In other Waterstone Financial news, Director Patrick S. Lawton sold 37,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now owns 49,131 shares in the company, valued at $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 available at this link. Also, CFO Mark Raymond Gerke sold 2,738 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.14, for a total transaction of $38,715.32. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 30,334 shares of the company's stock, valued at $428,922.76. This trade represents a 8.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 66,669 shares of company stock valued at $929,283. Company insiders own 8.30% of the company's stock.

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Hedge Funds Weigh In On Waterstone Financial

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WSBF. Quantinno Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Waterstone Financial during the 4th quarter worth about $203,000. Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in Waterstone Financial by 108.7% during the fourth 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 period. Deutsche Bank AG bought a new stake in Waterstone Financial in the fourth quarter worth approximately $143,000. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. lifted its stake in Waterstone Financial by 11.5% in the fourth quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 37,220 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $500,000 after buying an additional 3,832 shares during the period. Finally, Bridgeway Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Waterstone Financial by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 431,520 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $5,800,000 after buying an additional 3,705 shares in the last quarter. 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 Thursday, March 13th.

Waterstone Financial Trading Up 0.1 %

NASDAQ:WSBF traded up $0.02 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $13.81. 31,879 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 43,163. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $13.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $14.37. Waterstone Financial has a one year low of $10.60 and a one year high of $16.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $266.81 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.67 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64.

Waterstone Financial (NASDAQ:WSBF - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 8th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, January 8th. Waterstone Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.41%.

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.