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

StockNews.com lowered shares of Westamerica Bancorporation (NASDAQ:WABC) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note published on Tuesday morning.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on WABC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of Westamerica Bancorporation from $60.00 to $58.00 and set a market perform rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 19th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of Westamerica Bancorporation from $56.00 to $55.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 19th.

Westamerica Bancorporation Price Performance

WABC stock opened at $45.55 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $46.84 and its 200-day simple moving average is $48.95. The company has a market capitalization of $1.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.52 and a beta of 0.56. Westamerica Bancorporation has a 12 month low of $35.52 and a 12 month high of $57.96.

Westamerica Bancorporation (NASDAQ:WABC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.50 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $80.37 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $81.03 million. Westamerica Bancorporation had a net margin of 49.39% and a return on equity of 23.61%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Westamerica Bancorporation will post 5.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Westamerica Bancorporation Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 5th were given a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 2nd. Westamerica Bancorporation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.04%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO David L. Payne sold 8,728 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.95, for a total value of $444,691.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 333,689 shares in the company, valued at $17,001,454.55. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, CEO David L. Payne sold 8,728 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.95, for a total value of $444,691.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 333,689 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,001,454.55. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO David L. Payne sold 11,272 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.79, for a total transaction of $527,416.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 242,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,342,691.43. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 45,000 shares of company stock worth $2,213,458 over the last three months. Insiders own 4.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Westamerica Bancorporation

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WABC. Citigroup Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Westamerica Bancorporation by 11.9% in the first quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 23,582 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,427,000 after purchasing an additional 2,511 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its stake in Westamerica Bancorporation by 64.9% during the first quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 12,678 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $792,000 after buying an additional 4,988 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Westamerica Bancorporation by 5.4% during the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 11,478 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $693,000 after buying an additional 590 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Westamerica Bancorporation by 36.4% during the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 13,223 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $800,000 after buying an additional 3,532 shares during the period. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers boosted its stake in Westamerica Bancorporation by 0.9% during the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 80,348 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,861,000 after buying an additional 715 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.