Seattle, Washington - The Board of Directors of Washington Federal, Inc. (NASDAQ-WAFD), parent company of Washington Federal, today announced a quarterly cash dividend of 8 cents per share. The dividend will be payable on December 31, 2012 to common stockholders of record on December 27, 2012. The dividend is being accelerated from the normal January payment date in consideration of potentially higher dividend tax rates in 2013. This will be Washington Federal's 120th consecutive quarterly cash dividend.