WSFS Financial (WSFS) Declares $0.15 Dividend

WSFS Financial said on January 26, 2023 that its board of directors declared a regular quarterly dividend of $0.15 per share ($0.60 annualized). Shareholders of record as of February 9, 2023 will receive the payment on February 24, 2023. Previously, the company paid $0.15 per share.

At the current share price of $48.65 / share, the stock's dividend yield is 1.23%. Looking back five years and taking a sample every week, the average dividend yield has been 1.26%, the lowest has been 0.87%, and the highest has been 2.46%. The standard deviation of yields is 0.31 (n=148).

The current dividend yield is 0.09 standard deviations below the historical average.

Additionally, the company's dividend payout ratio is 0.17. The payout ratio tells us how much of a company's income is paid out in dividends. A payout ratio of one (1.0) means 100% of the company's income is paid in a dividend. A payout ratio greater than one means the company is dipping into savings in order to maintain its dividend - not a healthy situation. Companies with few growth prospects are expected to pay out most of their income in dividends, which typically means a payout ratio between 0.5 and 1.0. Companies with good growth prospects are expected to retain some earnings in order to invest in those growth prospects, which translates to a payout ratio of zero to 0.5.

The company's 3-Year dividend growth rate is 0.25%, demonstrating that it has increased its dividend over time.

Analyst Price Forecast Suggests 12.17% Upside

As of February 2, 2023, the average one-year price target for WSFS Financial is $54.57. The forecasts range from a low of $50.50 to a high of $59.85. The average price target represents an increase of 12.17% from its latest reported closing price of $48.65.

The projected annual revenue for WSFS Financial is $758MM, a decrease of 13.31%. The projected annual EPS is $5.39, an increase of 66.35%.

Fund Sentiment

There are 533 funds or institutions reporting positions in WSFS Financial. This is a decrease of 16 owner(s) or 2.91%.

Average portfolio weight of all funds dedicated to US:WSFS is 0.2259%, an increase of 3.1830%. Total shares owned by institutions decreased in the last three months by 2.69% to 68,438K shares.

What are large shareholders doing?

IJR - iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF holds 4,365,715 shares representing 7.09% ownership of the company. No change in the last quarter.

T. Rowe Price Investment Management holds 3,007,025 shares representing 4.88% ownership of the company.

Franklin Resources holds 2,379,146 shares representing 3.86% ownership of the company. In it's prior filing, the firm reported owning 2,044,765 shares, representing an increase of 14.05%. The firm increased its portfolio allocation in WSFS by 48.17% over the last quarter.

Macquarie Group holds 2,128,778 shares representing 3.46% ownership of the company. In it's prior filing, the firm reported owning 2,463,018 shares, representing a decrease of 15.70%. The firm increased its portfolio allocation in WSFS by 9.45% over the last quarter.

VTSMX - Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund Investor Shares holds 1,897,137 shares representing 3.08% ownership of the company. In it's prior filing, the firm reported owning 1,909,197 shares, representing a decrease of 0.64%. The firm increased its portfolio allocation in WSFS by 20.04% over the last quarter.

WSFS Financial Background Information
(This description is provided by the company.)

WSFS Financial Corporation is a multi-billion-dollar financial services company. Its primary subsidiary, WSFS Bank, is the oldest and largest locally managed bank and trust company headquartered in Delaware and the Greater Philadelphia region. As of December 31, 2020, WSFS Financial Corporation had $14.3 billion in assets on its balance sheet and $24.2 billion in assets under management and administration. WSFS operates from 112 offices, 89 of which are banking offices, located in Pennsylvania (52), Delaware (42), New Jersey (16), Virginia (1) and Nevada (1) and provides comprehensive financial services including commercial banking, retail banking, cash management and trust and wealth management. Other subsidiaries or divisions include Arrow Land Transfer, Cash Connect®, Cypress Capital Management, LLC, Christiana Trust Company of Delaware®, NewLane Finance®, Powdermill® Financial Solutions, West Capital Management®, WSFS Institutional Services®, WSFS Mortgage®, and WSFS Wealth® Investments. Serving the Greater Delaware Valley since 1832, WSFS Bank is one of the ten oldest banks in the United States continuously operating under the same name.

This story originally appeared on Fintel.