Westamerica Bancorporation (NASDAQ:WABC) Upgraded by Wall Street Zen to “Hold” Rating

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Westamerica Bancorporation (NASDAQ:WABC) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report released on Monday morning.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on WABC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on Westamerica Bancorporation from $55.00 to $54.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Westamerica Bancorporation in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $52.00.

Westamerica Bancorporation Stock Performance

Shares of WABC opened at $46.78 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.29. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $48.81 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $48.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.19 and a beta of 0.61. Westamerica Bancorporation has a 52 week low of $42.00 and a 52 week high of $59.97.

Westamerica Bancorporation (NASDAQ:WABC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.12 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $64.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.20 million. Westamerica Bancorporation had a return on equity of 13.10% and a net margin of 43.19%. Equities analysts forecast that Westamerica Bancorporation will post 4.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Westamerica Bancorporation Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, August 4th were paid a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 4th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.9%. Westamerica Bancorporation’s dividend payout ratio is presently 40.09%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Westamerica Bancorporation

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co boosted its holdings in shares of Westamerica Bancorporation by 0.7% during the second quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 32,377 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,570,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares during the period. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey boosted its holdings in shares of Westamerica Bancorporation by 4.9% during the second quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey now owns 5,833 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $283,000 after purchasing an additional 274 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS boosted its holdings in shares of Westamerica Bancorporation by 5.2% during the second quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 6,722 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $326,000 after purchasing an additional 331 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Westamerica Bancorporation by 4.5% during the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 8,325 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $421,000 after purchasing an additional 362 shares during the period. Finally, MAI Capital Management boosted its holdings in shares of Westamerica Bancorporation by 126.1% during the second quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 866 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 483 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.