WaFd, Inc. WAFD hiked its quarterly cash dividend by 3.8% to 27 cents per share. The dividend will be paid out on March 7, 2025, to its shareholders of record as of Feb. 21.
Before the recent hike, the bank increased its dividend by 4% to 26 cents per share in February 2024. WaFd has raised its dividend four times in the past five years with a growth rate of 4.1%. It has a dividend payout ratio of 37%.
Based on its closing price of $30.69 as of Feb. 11, WAFD’s forward dividend yield, considering the increased payout, is 3.5%.
WAFD’s Other Capital Distribution Activities
WaFd has an ongoing repurchase program that was extended in May 2024. This increased the authorization by 10 million shares with no expiration date. The company announced the program in 1995, and since then, it has been extended numerous times. As of Dec. 31, 2024, roughly 11.5 million shares remained available under the current authorization.
Before that, WAFD had extended its repurchase plan in January 2021 to buy back up to an additional 10 million shares.
Our Take on WAFD Stock
WAFD enjoys a decent balance sheet position. As of Dec. 31, 2024, total borrowings were $2.9 billion, and cash and cash equivalents were $1.5 billion. Net loans receivable were $21.1 billion, and total deposits were $2.9 billion.
Further, at the end of the fourth quarter of 2024, its common equity Tier-1 capital ratio of 11.45% and the total capital ratio of 14.43% were well above regulatory requirements.
Given the decent capital and liquidity positions, WaFd is expected to sustain its current capital distribution activities and enhance shareholder value.
Shares of WaFd have risen 12.6% compared with the industry’s 35.6% growth in the past year.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
WAFD currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).
You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Other Banks That Announced Dividend Hike
Earlier this month, Hancock Whitney Corp. HWC hiked its quarterly cash dividend by 12.5% to 45 cents per share. The dividend will be paid out on March 17, 2025, to shareholders of record as of March 5.
Before the recent hike, HWC had increased its dividend by 33.3% to 40 cents per share in April 2024. Hancock Whitney has raised its dividend thrice in the past five years with a growth rate of 7.5%. It has a dividend payout ratio of 30%.
Similarly, last month, Bank OZK OZK hiked its quarterly cash dividend by 2.4% to 42 cents per share. The dividend was paid out on Jan. 21, 2025, to shareholders of record as of Jan. 14.
OZK has hiked its quarterly cash dividend in each of the last 58 quarters. Before the recent hike, the bank had increased its dividend by 2.5% to 41 cents per share in October 2024.
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