Waterstone Financial (NASDAQ:WSBF) Cut to Hold at StockNews.com

Waterstone Financial (NASDAQ:WSBF) was downgraded by StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Tuesday.

Waterstone Financial Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of WSBF stock traded up $0.06 on Tuesday, hitting $14.15. 60,164 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 55,157. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $13.56 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $14.41. 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 $274.13 million, a PE ratio of 14.01 and a beta of 0.64. Waterstone Financial has a twelve month low of $10.60 and a twelve month high of $16.86.

Waterstone Financial (NASDAQ:WSBF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The savings and loans company reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter. Waterstone Financial had a net margin of 9.23% and a return on equity of 5.75%.

Insider Activity

In other Waterstone Financial news, Director Stephen J. Schmidt sold 14,928 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.80, for a total value of $206,006.40. Following the transaction, the director now owns 70,078 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $967,076.40. This represents a 17.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 27,168 shares of company stock valued at $375,628. 8.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Waterstone Financial by 73.0% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 51,913 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $763,000 after buying an additional 21,902 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its position in Waterstone Financial by 242.1% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 20,824 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $306,000 after buying an additional 14,737 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in Waterstone Financial by 0.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 462,234 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $6,795,000 after buying an additional 3,799 shares during the last quarter. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. lifted its position in Waterstone Financial by 165.0% in the third quarter. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. now owns 90,826 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $1,335,000 after buying an additional 56,554 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC increased its stake in Waterstone Financial by 26.6% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 71,039 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $1,044,000 after purchasing an additional 14,919 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.71% of the company’s stock.

About Waterstone Financial

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.