Waterstone Financial (NASDAQ:WSBF) Upgraded by Wall Street Zen to Buy Rating

by · The Markets Daily

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Waterstone Financial (NASDAQ:WSBF – Free Report) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report published on Saturday morning.

Separately, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Waterstone Financial from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, December 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy”.

Read Our Latest Analysis on WSBF

Waterstone Financial Stock Performance

Shares of WSBF stock opened at $16.04 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $15.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $14.46. The stock has a market cap of $296.10 million, a PE ratio of 12.06 and a beta of 0.82. Waterstone Financial has a 1 year low of $11.61 and a 1 year high of $16.75.

Waterstone Financial (NASDAQ:WSBF – Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The savings and loans company reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter. Waterstone Financial had a return on equity of 6.99% and a net margin of 12.08%.The company had revenue of $37.04 million for the quarter.

Waterstone Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 8th were paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 8th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.7%. Waterstone Financial’s payout ratio is presently 45.11%.

Insider Activity

In other Waterstone Financial news, Director Michael L. Hansen sold 79,872 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.16, for a total transaction of $1,210,859.52. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 7.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Waterstone Financial

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Waterstone Financial by 557.9% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,875 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 1,590 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Waterstone Financial in the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Waterstone Financial during the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its stake in Waterstone Financial by 297.4% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 3,187 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 2,385 shares during the period. Finally, Gamco Investors INC. ET AL purchased a new stake in Waterstone Financial during the second quarter worth approximately $138,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.71% of the company’s stock.

About Waterstone Financial

(Get Free Report)

Waterstone Financial, Inc operates as a bank holding company for WaterStone Bank SSB that provides various financial services to customers in southeastern Wisconsin, the United States. It operates in two segments, Community Banking and Mortgage Banking. The Community Banking segment offers consumer and business banking products and services, such as deposit and transactional solutions, including checking accounts, online banking and bill pay services, money transfer services, as well as credit, debit, and pre-paid cards; investable funds solutions comprising savings, money market deposits, individual retirement accounts, and certificates of deposit; residential mortgages, home equity loans and lines of credit, personal and installment loans, real estate financing, business loans, and business lines of credit; and fixed and variable annuities, insurance products, and trust and investment management accounts.

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