Westamerica Bancorporation (NASDAQ:WABC) to Issue $0.44 Quarterly Dividend

Westamerica Bancorporation (NASDAQ:WABC) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, January 23rd,RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be paid a dividend of 0.44 per share by the financial services provider on Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.41%.

Westamerica Bancorporation has increased its dividend payment by an average of 2.2% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 15 consecutive years. Westamerica Bancorporation has a dividend payout ratio of 43.5% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Westamerica Bancorporation to earn $3.95 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.76 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 44.6%.

Westamerica Bancorporation Stock Down 0.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:WABC traded down $0.01 during trading on Thursday, reaching $51.57. The stock had a trading volume of 27,536 shares, compared to its average volume of 111,416. Westamerica Bancorporation has a one year low of $43.82 and a one year high of $59.97. The company has a market capitalization of $1.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.96 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $54.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $52.24.

Westamerica Bancorporation (NASDAQ:WABC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19. Westamerica Bancorporation had a net margin of 44.55% and a return on equity of 16.15%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.48 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Westamerica Bancorporation will post 4.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Westamerica Bancorporation from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th.

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.