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: $29.15 to $30.82
• 50-Day Range: $30.25 to $37.70
• 52-Week Range: $25.78 to $38.62
• Volume: 1.30 million shs
• Average Volume: 674,800 shs
• Market Capitalization: $2.46 billion
• P/E Ratio: 12.20
• Dividend Yield: 3.44%
• Price Target: $38.50
• Consensus Rating: Hold

WaFd Stock Analysis - MarketRank™

WaFd scored higher than 98% of companies evaluated by MarketBeat, and ranked 36th out of 955 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: 3.1 / 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 4 research reports in the past 90 days.

Earnings and Valuation

• Score: 3.8 / 5
• Proj. Earnings Growth: 17.73%

Earnings Growth

Earnings for WaFd are expected to grow by 17.73% in the coming year, from $2.82 to $3.32 per share.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. the Market

The P/E ratio of WaFd is 12.20, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the market average P/E ratio of about 111.90.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. Sector

The P/E ratio of WaFd is 12.20, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the Finance sector average P/E ratio of about 25.22.

Price to Book Value per Share Ratio

WaFd has a P/B Ratio of 0.91. P/B Ratios below 1 indicate that a company could be undervalued with respect to its assets and liabilities.

Short Interest

• Score: 2.0 / 5
• Short Interest Level: Bearish

Percentage of Shares Shorted

2.38% 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 4.3.

Change versus previous month

Short interest in WaFd has recently increased by 20.50%, indicating that investor sentiment is decreasing significantly.

Dividend

• Score: 2.5 / 5
• Dividend Strength: Moderate

Dividend Yield

WaFd pays a meaningful dividend of 3.40%, higher than the bottom 25% of all stocks that pay dividends.

Dividend Growth

WaFd does not have a long track record of dividend growth.

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 31.33% 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

2.38% 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 4.3.

Change versus previous month

Short interest in WaFd has recently increased by 20.50%, indicating that investor sentiment is decreasing significantly.

News and Social Media

• Score: 2.4 / 5
• News Sentiment: 0.28

News Sentiment

WaFd has a news sentiment score of 0.28. 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 0.65 average news sentiment score of Finance companies.

News Coverage This Week

MarketBeat has tracked 13 news articles for WaFd this week, compared to 4 articles on an average week.

Search Interest

4 people have searched for WAFD on MarketBeat in the last 30 days. This is an increase of 300% compared to the previous 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 1.46% 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 $32.24 at the beginning of the year. Since then, WAFD shares have decreased by 6.2% and is now trading at $30.25.
View the best growth stocks for 2025 here.

How were WaFd's earnings last quarter?

WaFd, Inc (NASDAQ:WAFD) issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October, 17th. The bank reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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?

Top institutional investors of WaFd include Assenagon Asset Management S.A. (0.19%), Hennessy Advisors Inc. (0.12%), Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC (0.07%) and Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. (0.04%). 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

• Last Earnings: 10/17/2024
• Ex-Dividend for 12/6 Dividend: 11/22/2024
• Dividend Payable: 12/06/2024
• Today: 1/18/2025
• 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: 2,208
• Year Founded: N/A

Price Target and Rating

• Average Stock Price Target: $38.50
• High Stock Price Target: $41.00
• Low Stock Price Target: $35.00
• Potential Upside/Downside: +27.3%
• 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: 12.20
• Forward P/E Ratio: 10.73
• 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: 1.08

Sales & Book Value

• Annual Sales: $1.43 billion
• Price / Sales: 1.72
• Cash Flow: $4.54 per share
• Price / Cash Flow: 6.67
• Book Value: $33.25 per share
• Price / Book: 0.91

Miscellaneous

• Outstanding Shares: 81,370,000
• Free Float: 80,182,000
• Market Cap: $2.46 billion
• Optionable: Optionable
• Beta: 0.87