Westamerica Bancorporation (NASDAQ:WABC) Cut to Sell at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Westamerica Bancorporation (NASDAQ:WABC) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report released on Thursday morning.

WABC has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Maxim Group downgraded shares of Westamerica Bancorporation from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Westamerica Bancorporation from $50.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and three have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $57.00.

Westamerica Bancorporation Trading Up 1.2 %

NASDAQ WABC opened at $48.13 on Thursday. Westamerica Bancorporation has a 12 month low of $43.04 and a 12 month high of $58.49. The company has a 50-day moving average of $50.07 and a 200-day moving average of $49.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.25 and a quick ratio of 0.25. The company has a market cap of $1.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.13 and a beta of 0.55.

Westamerica Bancorporation (NASDAQ:WABC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.33 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.30 by $0.03. Westamerica Bancorporation had a net margin of 47.12% and a return on equity of 20.17%. The company had revenue of $79.57 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $74.28 million. As a group, equities analysts predict that Westamerica Bancorporation will post 5.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Westamerica Bancorporation Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 16th. Investors of record on Monday, August 5th were given a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 5th. Westamerica Bancorporation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.73%.

Institutional Trading of Westamerica Bancorporation

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Westamerica Bancorporation by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,512,538 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $171,693,000 after purchasing an additional 19,654 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in Westamerica Bancorporation by 11.7% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,904,399 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $92,421,000 after acquiring an additional 199,721 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Westamerica Bancorporation by 5.1% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 861,398 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $41,801,000 after acquiring an additional 41,841 shares during the period. Kennedy Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Westamerica Bancorporation by 70.2% in the 1st quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 252,177 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $12,326,000 after acquiring an additional 104,029 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Westamerica Bancorporation in the 4th quarter worth approximately $9,733,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.89% of the company’s stock.

Westamerica Bancorporation Company Profile

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.