WaFd (WAFD) Stock Price, News & Analysis

Company Overview

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. It also provides single-family dwellings, construction, land acquisition and development, consumer lot, multi-family residential, commercial real estate, home equity, business, and consumer loans, as well as commercial and industrial loans. In addition, the company offers insurance brokerage services, such as individual and business insurance policies; holds and markets real estate properties; and debit and credit cards, as well as acts as the trustee. It serves consumers, mid-sized and large businesses, and owners and developers of commercial real estate. The company was formerly known as Washington Federal, Inc. and changed its name to WaFd, Inc in September 2023. WaFd, Inc was founded in 1917 and is headquartered in Seattle, Washington.

Key Stats

• Today's Range: $36.35 to $37.40
• 50-Day Range: $33.42 to $38.06
• 52-Week Range: $25.78 to $38.58
• Volume: 307,164 shs
• Average Volume: 480,778 shs
• Market Capitalization: $3.00 billion
• P/E Ratio: 14.90
• Dividend Yield: 2.81%
• Price Target: $38.00
• Consensus Rating: Hold

WaFd Stock Analysis - MarketRank™

WaFd scored higher than 93% of companies evaluated by MarketBeat, and ranked 133rd out of 963 stocks in the finance sector. Scores are calculated by averaging available category scores, with extra weight given to analysis and valuation.

Analyst's Opinion

• Score: 1.1 / 5
• Analyst Rating: Hold

Consensus Rating

WaFd has received a consensus rating of Hold. The company's average rating score is 2.25, and is based on 1 buy rating, 3 hold ratings, and no sell ratings.

Amount of Analyst Coverage

WaFd has only been the subject of 3 research reports in the past 90 days.

Earnings and Valuation

• Score: 2.5 / 5
• Proj. Earnings Growth: 14.54%

Earnings Growth

Earnings for WaFd are expected to grow by 14.54% in the coming year, from $2.82 to $3.23 per share.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. the Market

The P/E ratio of WaFd is 14.90, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the market average P/E ratio of about 121.85.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. Sector

The P/E ratio of WaFd is 14.90, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the Finance sector average P/E ratio of about 28.47.

Price to Book Value per Share Ratio

WaFd has a P/B Ratio of 1.11. P/B Ratios below 3 indicates that a company is reasonably valued with respect to its assets and liabilities.

Short Interest

• Score: 5.0 / 5
• Short Interest Level: Healthy

Percentage of Shares Shorted

1.87% of the outstanding shares of WaFd have been sold short.

Short Interest Ratio / Days to Cover

WaFd has a short interest ratio ("days to cover") of 2.8, which is generally considered an acceptable ratio of short interest to trading volume.

Change versus previous month

Short interest in WaFd has recently decreased by 31.22%, indicating that investor sentiment is improving significantly.

Dividend

• Score: 4.2 / 5
• Dividend Strength: Strong

Dividend Yield

WaFd pays a meaningful dividend of 2.81%, higher than the bottom 25% of all stocks that pay dividends.

Dividend Growth

WaFd has been increasing its dividend for 14 years.

Dividend Coverage

The dividend payout ratio of WaFd is 41.94%. This payout ratio is at a healthy, sustainable level, below 75%.

Dividend Sustainability

Based on earnings estimates, WaFd will have a dividend payout ratio of 32.20% next year. This indicates that WaFd will be able to sustain or increase its dividend.

Sustainability and ESG

• Score: 3.0 / 5
• Environmental Score: -0.58

Percentage of Shares Shorted

1.87% of the outstanding shares of WaFd have been sold short.

Short Interest Ratio / Days to Cover

WaFd has a short interest ratio ("days to cover") of 2.8, which is generally considered an acceptable ratio of short interest to trading volume.

Change versus previous month

Short interest in WaFd has recently decreased by 31.22%, indicating that investor sentiment is improving significantly.

News and Social Media

• Score: 2.9 / 5
• News Sentiment: 0.25

News Sentiment

WaFd has a news sentiment score of 0.25. This score is calculated as an average of sentiment of articles about the company over the last seven days and ranges from 2 (good news) to -2 (bad news). This is a lower news sentiment than the 0.67 average news sentiment score of Finance companies.

News Coverage This Week

MarketBeat has tracked 20 news articles for WaFd this week, compared to 4 articles on an average week.

Search Interest

1 people have searched for WAFD on MarketBeat in the last 30 days.

MarketBeat Follows

1 people have added WaFd to their MarketBeat watchlist in the last 30 days.

Company Ownership

• Score: 2.5 / 5
• Insider Trading: Selling Shares

Insider Buying vs. Insider Selling

In the past three months, WaFd insiders have sold more of their company's stock than they have bought. Specifically, they have bought $0.00 in company stock and sold $404,360.00 in company stock.

Percentage Held by Insiders

Only 2.25% of the stock of WaFd is held by insiders.

Percentage Held by Institutions

83.71% of the stock of WaFd is held by institutions. High institutional ownership can be a signal of strong market trust in this company.

WAFD Stock Analysis - Frequently Asked Questions

How have WAFD shares performed this year?

WaFd's stock was trading at $32.96 at the beginning of the year. Since then, WAFD stock has increased by 12.1% and is now trading at $36.96.
View the best growth stocks for 2024 here.

How were WaFd's earnings last quarter?

WaFd, Inc (NASDAQ:WAFD) announced its earnings results on Thursday, October, 17th. The bank reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.01. The bank earned $389.98 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $190.43 million. WaFd had a net margin of 13.97% and a trailing twelve-month return on equity of 9.44%.

Who are WaFd's major shareholders?

WaFd's top institutional investors include State Street Corp (4.89%), Geode Capital Management LLC (2.17%), Systematic Financial Management LP (1.76%) and Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. (1.51%). Insiders that own company stock include Ryan Mauer, Cathy E Cooper, Randall H Talbot, Kim E Robison, Brent J Beardall, David K Grant, James Endrizzi, Vincent L Beatty and Thomas J Kelley.
View institutional ownership trends.

How do I buy shares of WaFd?

Shares of WAFD stock can be purchased through any online brokerage account. Popular online brokerages with access to the U.S. stock market include Charles Schwab, E*TRADE, Fidelity, and Vanguard Brokerage Services.
Compare Top Brokerages Here.

What other stocks do shareholders of WaFd own?

Based on aggregate information from My MarketBeat watchlists, some other companies that WaFd investors own include Humana (HUM), American Water Works (AWK), Waste Connections (WCN), Voyager Therapeutics (VYGR), The RMR Group (RMR), Southern First Bancshares (SFST) and DiamondRock Hospitality (DRH).

Company Calendar

• Ex-Dividend for 9/6 Dividend: 8/23/2024
• Dividend Payable: 9/06/2024
• Last Earnings: 10/17/2024
• Today: 11/17/2024
• Ex-Dividend for 12/6 Dividend: 11/22/2024
• Dividend Payable: 12/06/2024
• Next Earnings (Estimated): 1/21/2025
• Fiscal Year End: 9/30/2025

Industry, Sector and Symbol

• Stock Exchange: NASDAQ
• Sector: Finance
• Industry: National commercial banks
• Sub-Industry: Thrifts & Mortgage Finance
• Current Symbol: NASDAQ:WAFD
• CUSIP: 93882410
• CIK: 936528
• Web: www.washingtonfederal.com
• Phone: (206) 624-7930
• Fax: 206-626-8520
• Employees: 2,120
• Year Founded: N/A

Price Target and Rating

• Average Stock Price Target: $38.00
• High Stock Price Target: $41.00
• Low Stock Price Target: $35.00
• Potential Upside/Downside: +2.8%
• Consensus Rating: Hold
• Rating Score (0-4): 2.25
• Research Coverage: 4 Analysts

Profitability

• EPS (Most Recent Fiscal Year): $2.48
• Trailing P/E Ratio: 14.90
• Forward P/E Ratio: 13.11
• P/E Growth: N/A
• Net Income: $200.04 million
• Net Margins: 13.97%
• Pretax Margin: 17.88%
• Return on Equity: 9.44%
• Return on Assets: 0.87%

Debt

• Debt-to-Equity Ratio: 1.21
• Current Ratio: 1.08
• Quick Ratio: 1.09

Sales & Book Value

• Annual Sales: $1.43 billion
• Price / Sales: 2.10
• Cash Flow: $4.33 per share
• Price / Cash Flow: 8.53
• Book Value: $33.25 per share
• Price / Book: 1.11

Miscellaneous

• Outstanding Shares: 81,220,000
• Free Float: 79,392,000
• Market Cap: $3.00 billion
• Optionable: Optionable
• Beta: 0.83