Waterstone Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBF) Short Interest Update

by · The Cerbat Gem

Waterstone Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBF – Get Free Report) saw a large increase in short interest in May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 88,200 shares, an increase of 20.2% from the April 30th total of 73,400 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 51,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.7 days. Currently, 0.6% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Wall Street Zen cut Waterstone Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th.

Read Our Latest Analysis on WSBF

Institutional Trading of Waterstone Financial

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Waterstone Financial by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 77,773 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $1,045,000 after purchasing an additional 3,705 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Waterstone Financial during the fourth quarter worth approximately $365,000. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. boosted its stake in Waterstone Financial by 19.3% during the fourth quarter. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. now owns 108,342 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $1,456,000 after buying an additional 17,516 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its holdings in Waterstone Financial by 27.5% in the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 24,213 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $325,000 after buying an additional 5,226 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Waterstone Financial by 64.9% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 85,628 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $1,151,000 after buying an additional 33,715 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.71% of the company’s stock.

Waterstone Financial Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of WSBF opened at $13.16 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $12.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $13.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 1.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $253.92 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.03 and a beta of 0.71. Waterstone Financial has a one year low of $11.61 and a one year high of $16.86.

Waterstone Financial (NASDAQ:WSBF – Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The savings and loans company reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The business had revenue of $29.67 million during the quarter. Waterstone Financial had a net margin of 9.23% and a return on equity of 5.75%.

Waterstone Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 8th were paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 8th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.56%. Waterstone Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 58.82%.

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.

Read More