Washington Federal Inc. (NASDAQ: WAFD) stock jumped 0.07% on Tuesday to $27.40 against a previous-day closing price of $27.38. With 0.56 million shares changed hands, the volume of the stock remained lighter than its average volume of 1.01 million shares. The 52-week range on WAFD shows that it touched its highest point at $39.17 and its lowest point at $23.90 during that stretch. It currently has a 1-year price target of $34.00. With its current market cap of 1.81 billion, WAFD has annualized dividend of $1.00 while the current yield stands at 3.65%. Beta for the stock currently stands at 0.83.
Unlock the Hottest Top 10 Penny Stocks Today! Discover Now
Dive into the world of lucrative penny stocks with MarketClub's groundbreaking "Smart Scan" technology! Get an instant snapshot of the top 50 high volume stocks with a clear direction and outstanding liquidity - in other words, the strongest trending. To unlock this exclusive list, simply provide your first name, last name, and email for instant access.
Gain Access to Top 10 Penny Stocks Now!.
Sponsored
Price Performance and Earnings:
Stock performance is one of the indicators that investors use to determine whether they will profit from a stock. The price performance of WAFD was up-trending over the past week, with a rise of 7.11%, but this was down by -4.70% over a month. Three-month performance dropped to -22.53% while six-month performance fell -20.00%. The stock lost -11.70% in the past year, while it has lost -18.33% so far this year. A look at the trailing 12-month EPS for WAFD yields 4.09 with Next year EPS estimates of 3.72. For the next quarter, that number is 0.93. This implies an EPS growth rate of 41.70% for this year and -4.57% for next year. EPS is expected to grow by 7.00% annually over the next five years; however, over the past five years, the company experienced an annual growth rate of 11.80%.
Float and Shares Shorts:
At present, 65.51 million WAFD shares are outstanding with a float of 64.31 million shares on hand for trading. On Apr 27, 2023, short shares totaled 3.71 million, which was 5.64% higher than short shares on Mar 30, 2023. In addition to Mr. Brent J. Beardall CPA as the firm’s Pres, CEO & Vice Chairman, Ms. Kim E. Robison serves as its Exec. VP & COO.
Institutional Ownership:
Through their ownership of 85.32% of WAFD’s outstanding shares, institutional investors have majority control over the company. Other institutions hold 57.55% of WAFD, in contrast to 4.67% held by mutual funds. Shares owned by individuals account for 28.02%. As the largest shareholder in WAFD with 13.78% of the stake, BlackRock Fund Advisors holds 9,064,635 shares worth 9,064,635. A second-largest stockholder of WAFD, The Vanguard Group, Inc., holds 7,070,473 shares, controlling over 10.75% of the firm’s shares. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP is the third largest shareholder in WAFD, holding 5,244,463 shares or 7.97% stake. With a 6.19% stake in WAFD, the iShares Core S&P Small Cap ETF is the largest stakeholder. A total of 4,069,555 shares are owned by the mutual fund manager. The Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF, which owns about 3.04% of WAFD stock, is the second-largest Mutual Fund holder. It holds 2,002,013 shares valued at 56.14 million. Capitol Series Trust – Fuller & T holds 2.70% of the stake in WAFD, owning 1,773,081 shares worth 49.72 million.
Analysts Ratings:
Reading analyst opinions is an effective way to decide where to invest, and there are several opinions available for WAFD since 0 analysts follow the stock currently. In the same way, a target price assigned to a stock can also reveal much about its potential. With WAFD analysts setting a high price target of $38.00 and a low target of $29.00, the average target price over the next 12 months is $34.00. Based on these targets, WAFD could surge 38.69% to reach the target high and rise by 5.84% to reach the target low. Reaching the average price target will result in a growth of 24.09% from current levels.
EPS: Estimates vs Actual
It is also common to use earnings estimates to evaluate a firm’s growth potential and to determine trading strategy.
Dividends & Yield:
In terms of dividends, WAFD has a current ratio of $1.0, which is $1.0 over the trailing 12-months, while a dividend of $0.85 is likely to be paid on average over the next five years. Dividend yield is another indicator that appeals to many investors, and WAFD currently yields $3.58. In the past year, WAFD’s dividend yield has been $3.58, but when looking at the stock over the past five years, its yield has been $2.76. Accordingly, WAFD has a current buyback yield of $0.11. This was $0.11 for the TTM, and it was $6.78 for the past five years.
Summary of Insider Activity:
Insiders traded WAFD stock several times over the past three months with 9 Buys and 0 Sells. In these transactions, 376,069 shares were bought while 0 shares were sold. The number of buy transactions has increased to 23 while that of sell transactions has risen to 20 over the past year. The total number of shares bought during that period was 536,300 while 174,335 shares were sold.
