Westamerica Bancorporation (NASDAQ:WABC) Raised to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Westamerica Bancorporation (NASDAQ:WABC) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on Westamerica Bancorporation from $51.00 to $50.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a market perform rating and issued a $57.00 price objective (down previously from $58.00) on shares of Westamerica Bancorporation in a research note on Monday, April 22nd.

Westamerica Bancorporation Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of WABC stock opened at $51.73 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $1.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.74 and a beta of 0.56. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $48.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $48.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.23. Westamerica Bancorporation has a fifty-two week low of $41.77 and a fifty-two week high of $57.96.

Westamerica Bancorporation (NASDAQ:WABC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The financial services provider reported $1.37 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by ($0.02). Westamerica Bancorporation had a net margin of 48.35% and a return on equity of 21.99%. The firm had revenue of $78.84 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $77.34 million. Research analysts forecast that Westamerica Bancorporation will post 5.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Westamerica Bancorporation Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 17th. Investors of record on Monday, May 6th were given a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 3rd. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.40%. Westamerica Bancorporation’s payout ratio is 29.73%.

Insider Activity at Westamerica Bancorporation

In related news, CFO John A. Thorson sold 1,100 shares of Westamerica Bancorporation stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.24, for a total transaction of $51,964.00. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Westamerica Bancorporation news, SVP George S. Ensinger sold 635 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.61, for a total value of $30,232.35. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,073 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $193,915.53. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO John A. Thorson sold 1,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.24, for a total value of $51,964.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 4.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WABC. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of Westamerica Bancorporation by 20.8% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,198,333 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $51,828,000 after buying an additional 206,376 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates raised its stake in shares of Westamerica Bancorporation by 13.2% in the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 37,395 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,109,000 after buying an additional 4,355 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Westamerica Bancorporation in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. New York State Teachers Retirement System raised its stake in shares of Westamerica Bancorporation by 11.3% in the fourth quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 40,661 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,294,000 after buying an additional 4,139 shares during the period. Finally, Equitable Trust Co. raised its stake in shares of Westamerica Bancorporation by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 9,646 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $544,000 after buying an additional 633 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.89% of the company’s stock.

About Westamerica Bancorporation

Westamerica Bancorporation operates as a bank holding company for the Westamerica Bank that provides various banking products and services to individual and commercial customers. The company accepts various deposit products, including retail savings and checking accounts, as well as certificates of deposit.