How to buy Washington Federal stock | $22.49

Washington Federal, Inc is a banks—regional business based in the US. Washington Federal shares (WAFD) are listed on the NASDAQ and all prices are listed in US Dollars. Washington Federal employs 2,080 staff and has a trailing 12-month revenue of around USD$534.7 million.

How to buy shares in Washington Federal

1. Compare share trading platforms. If you're a beginner, look for a platform with low commissions, expert ratings and investment tools to track your portfolio. Narrow down top brands with our comparison table.
2. Open and fund your brokerage account. Complete an application with your personal and financial details, like your ID and bank information. Fund your account with a bank transfer, credit card or debit card.
3. Search for Washington Federal. Find the stock by name or ticker symbol: WAFD. Research its history to confirm it's a solid investment against your financial goals.
4. Purchase now or later. Buy today with a market order or use a limit order to delay your purchase until Washington Federal reaches your desired price. To spread out your purchase, look into dollar-cost averaging, which smooths out buying at consistent intervals and amounts.
5. Decide on how many to buy. At last close price of USD$22.49, weigh your budget against a diversified portfolio that can minimize risk through the market's ups and downs. You may be able to buy a fractional share of Washington Federal, depending on your broker.
6. Check in on your investment. Congratulations, you own a part of Washington Federal. Optimize your portfolio by tracking how your stock — and even the business — performs with an eye on the long term. You may be eligible for dividends and shareholder voting rights on directors and management that can affect your stock.

Washington Federal share price

Use our graph to track the performance of WAFD stocks over time.

Washington Federal shares at a glance

• Key figures

Information last updated 2020-10-20.

Latest market close	USD$22.49
52-week range	USD$20.01 - USD$38.18
50-day moving average	USD$22.2697
200-day moving average	USD$24.4472
Wall St. target price	USD$26.67
PE ratio	9.9513
Dividend yield	USD$0.88 (3.93%)
Earnings per share (TTM)	USD$2.26

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Is it a good time to buy Washington Federal stock?

The technical analysis gauge below displays real-time ratings for the timeframes you select. This is not a recommendation, however. It represents a technical analysis based on the most popular technical indicators: Moving Averages, Oscillators and Pivots. Finder might not concur and takes no responsibility.

Technical Analysis of Washington Federal, Inc by TradingView

This chart is not advice or a guarantee of success. Rather, it gauges the real-time recommendations of three popular technical indicators: moving averages, oscillators and pivots. Finder is not responsible for how your stock performs.

Washington Federal price performance over time

Historical closes compared with the close of $22.49 from 2020-10-16

1 week (2021-01-09)	N/A
1 month (2020-12-16)	N/A
3 months (2020-10-20)	0.54%
6 months (2020-07-20)	-3.64%

1 year (2020-01-16)	N/A
2 years (2019-01-16)	N/A
3 years (2018-01-16)	N/A
5 years (2016-01-16)	N/A

Is Washington Federal under- or over-valued?

Valuing Washington Federal stock is incredibly difficult, and any metric has to be viewed as part of a bigger picture of Washington Federal's overall performance. However, analysts commonly use some key metrics to help gauge the value of a stock.

Washington Federal's P/E ratio

Washington Federal's current share price divided by its per-share earnings (EPS) over a 12-month period gives a "trailing price/earnings ratio" of roughly 10x. In other words, Washington Federal shares trade at around 10x recent earnings.

That's relatively low compared to, say, the trailing 12-month P/E ratio for the NASDAQ 100 at the end of 2019 (27.29). The low P/E ratio could mean that investors are pessimistic about the outlook for the shares or simply that they're under-valued.

Washington Federal's PEG ratio

Washington Federal's "price/earnings-to-growth ratio" can be calculated by dividing its P/E ratio by its growth – to give 1.67. A low ratio can be interpreted as meaning the shares offer better value, while a higher ratio can be interpreted as meaning the shares offer worse value.

The PEG ratio provides a broader view than just the P/E ratio, as it gives more insight into Washington Federal's future profitability. By accounting for growth, it could also help you if you're comparing the share prices of multiple high-growth companies.

Washington Federal financials

Revenue TTM	USD$534.7 million
Operating margin TTM	43.03%
Gross profit TTM	USD$534.7 million
Return on assets TTM	0.98%
Return on equity TTM	8.57%
Profit margin	32.44%
Book value	$26.611
Market capitalisation	USD$1.7 billion

TTM: trailing 12 months

Shorting Washington Federal shares

There are currently 1.3 million Washington Federal shares held short by investors – that's known as Washington Federal's "short interest". This figure is 22.5% down from 1.7 million last month.

There are a few different ways that this level of interest in shorting Washington Federal shares can be evaluated.

Washington Federal's "short interest ratio" (SIR)

Washington Federal's "short interest ratio" (SIR) is the quantity of Washington Federal shares currently shorted divided by the average quantity of Washington Federal shares traded daily (recently around 374458.61111111). Washington Federal's SIR currently stands at 3.6. In other words for every 100,000 Washington Federal shares traded daily on the market, roughly 3600 shares are currently held short.

However Washington Federal's short interest can also be evaluated against the total number of Washington Federal shares, or, against the total number of tradable Washington Federal shares (the shares that aren't held by "insiders" or major long-term shareholders – also known as the "float"). In this case Washington Federal's short interest could be expressed as 0.02% of the outstanding shares (for every 100,000 Washington Federal shares in existence, roughly 20 shares are currently held short) or 0.0239% of the tradable shares (for every 100,000 tradable Washington Federal shares, roughly 24 shares are currently held short).

Such a low SIR usually points to an optimistic outlook for the share price, with fewer people currently willing to bet against Washington Federal.

Find out more about how you can short Washington Federal stock.

Washington Federal share dividends

Dividend payout ratio: 32.95% of net profits

Recently Washington Federal has paid out, on average, around 32.95% of net profits as dividends. That has enabled analysts to estimate a "forward annual dividend yield" of 3.93% of the current stock value. This means that over a year, based on recent payouts (which are sadly no guarantee of future payouts), Washington Federal shareholders could enjoy a 3.93% return on their shares, in the form of dividend payments. In Washington Federal's case, that would currently equate to about $0.88 per share.

While Washington Federal's payout ratio might seem fairly standard, it's worth remembering that Washington Federal may be investing much of the rest of its net profits in future growth.

Washington Federal's most recent dividend payout was on 21 August 2020. The latest dividend was paid out to all shareholders who bought their shares by 6 August 2020 (the "ex-dividend date").

Have Washington Federal's shares ever split?

Washington Federal's shares were split on a 11:10 basis on 2 February 2005. So if you had owned 10 shares the day before before the split, the next day you'd have owned 11 shares. This wouldn't directly have changed the overall worth of your Washington Federal shares – just the quantity. However, indirectly, the new 9.1% lower share price could have impacted the market appetite for Washington Federal shares which in turn could have impacted Washington Federal's share price.

Washington Federal share price volatility

Over the last 12 months, Washington Federal's shares have ranged in value from as little as $20.01 up to $38.18. A popular way to gauge a stock's volatility is its "beta".

Beta is a measure of a share's volatility in relation to the market. The market (NASDAQ average) beta is 1, while Washington Federal's is 0.9526. This would suggest that Washington Federal's shares are less volatile than average (for this exchange).

Washington Federal overview

Washington Federal, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Washington Federal, National Association that provides lending, depository, insurance, and other banking services in the United States. The company accepts 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 residential, construction, land acquisition and development, land consumer lot, multi-family residential, commercial and industrial, commercial real estate, home equity, business, and consumer loans. In addition, the company offers insurance brokerage services, such as individual and business insurance policies to customers and general public; holds and markets real estate properties; and acts as trustee. It serves consumers, mid-sized and large businesses, and owners and developers of commercial real estate. As of September 30, 2019, the company had 234 branches located in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Arizona, Utah, Nevada, New Mexico, and Texas. Washington Federal, Inc. was founded in 1917 and is headquartered in Seattle, Washington.

Frequently asked questions

• What percentage of Washington Federal is owned by insiders or institutions?

  Currently 1.565% of Washington Federal shares are held by insiders and 88.691% by institutions.

• How many people work for Washington Federal?

  Latest data suggests 2,080 work at Washington Federal.

• When does the fiscal year end for Washington Federal?

  Washington Federal's fiscal year ends in September.

• Where is Washington Federal based?

  Washington Federal's address is: 425 Pike Street, Seattle, WA, United States, 98101

• What is Washington Federal's ISIN number?

  Washington Federal's international securities identification number is: US9388241096

• What is Washington Federal's CUSIP number?

  Washington Federal's Committee on Uniform Securities Identification Procedures number is: 938824109