West Bancorporation (NASDAQ:WTBA) Downgraded to “Hold” Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of West Bancorporation (NASDAQ:WTBA) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Saturday.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on WTBA. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on West Bancorporation from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of West Bancorporation in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Finally, Hovde Group lifted their price target on shares of West Bancorporation from $25.50 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $29.00.

West Bancorporation Stock Up 1.0%

WTBA stock opened at $28.05 on Friday. West Bancorporation has a twelve month low of $17.31 and a twelve month high of $28.44. The company has a market cap of $477.97 million, a PE ratio of 12.58 and a beta of 0.72. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $25.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $24.68. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33.

West Bancorporation (NASDAQ:WTBA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.01. West Bancorporation had a return on equity of 15.48% and a net margin of 18.75%.The firm had revenue of $28.22 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $28.15 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.47 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that West Bancorporation will post 2.59 earnings per share for the current year.

West Bancorporation Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 5th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 5th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.7%. This is an increase from West Bancorporation’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. West Bancorporation’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.84%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On West Bancorporation

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in West Bancorporation by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 875,719 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $17,795,000 after buying an additional 37,502 shares in the last quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in West Bancorporation by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 404,427 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,974,000 after acquiring an additional 1,763 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in West Bancorporation by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 354,382 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,864,000 after acquiring an additional 1,454 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in shares of West Bancorporation by 14.5% during the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 58,655 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,192,000 after acquiring an additional 7,428 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of West Bancorporation by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 46,607 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,035,000 after acquiring an additional 1,366 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 44.30% of the company’s stock.

West Bancorporation Company Profile

West Bancorporation, Inc is the bank holding company for West Town Bank and Trust, a full-service community bank headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Through its subsidiary, the company offers a comprehensive suite of commercial and consumer banking products, including deposit accounts, residential and commercial mortgages, business loans and treasury management services. West Bancorporation focuses on delivering personalized financial solutions to small- and medium-sized businesses, real estate developers and individual customers within its urban market.

Since launching operations in 2006, West Town Bank and Trust has steadily expanded its presence across the Chicago metropolitan area.