Westamerica Bancorporation (NASDAQ:WABC) Rating Increased 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 note released on Tuesday morning.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on Westamerica Bancorporation from $54.00 to $50.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on Westamerica Bancorporation from $58.00 to $55.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 21st.

Westamerica Bancorporation Trading Down 0.8%

NASDAQ WABC opened at $49.89 on Tuesday. Westamerica Bancorporation has a 1-year low of $42.00 and a 1-year high of $59.97. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average of $48.54 and a 200-day moving average of $51.50. The firm has a market cap of $1.33 billion, a PE ratio of 9.59 and a beta of 0.64.

Westamerica Bancorporation (NASDAQ:WABC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09 by $0.07. Westamerica Bancorporation had a return on equity of 16.15% and a net margin of 44.55%. The company had revenue of $66.71 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $66.47 million. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Westamerica Bancorporation will post 4.35 EPS for the current year.

Westamerica Bancorporation Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 16th. Investors of record on Monday, May 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.69%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 5th. This is an increase from Westamerica Bancorporation’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. Westamerica Bancorporation’s payout ratio is currently 36.87%.

Insider Activity at Westamerica Bancorporation

In related news, SVP John A. Thorson sold 2,243 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.57, for a total transaction of $108,942.51. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 11,591 shares in the company, valued at $562,974.87. The trade was a 16.21% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Robert James Baker, Jr. sold 710 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.16, for a total value of $34,193.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 5.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Westamerica Bancorporation by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,505,495 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $183,898,000 after purchasing an additional 34,762 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of Westamerica Bancorporation by 4.9% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,847,338 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $93,531,000 after purchasing an additional 86,850 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Westamerica Bancorporation by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 875,300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $45,919,000 after purchasing an additional 9,928 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Westamerica Bancorporation by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 753,088 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,515,000 after purchasing an additional 17,649 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Westamerica Bancorporation by 17.7% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 393,998 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $20,669,000 after purchasing an additional 59,325 shares in the last quarter. 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.