Insider Selling: West Bancorporation (NASDAQ:WTBA) Director Sells $217,100.00 in Stock

West Bancorporation, Inc. (NASDAQ:WTBA) Director George Milligan sold 10,000 shares of West Bancorporation stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.71, for a total value of $217,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 53,195 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,154,863.45. The trade was a 15.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

West Bancorporation Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of West Bancorporation stock opened at $22.42 on Friday. West Bancorporation, Inc. has a twelve month low of $17.31 and a twelve month high of $24.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $379.82 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.80 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $20.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $20.00.

West Bancorporation (NASDAQ:WTBA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $25.07 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $24.20 million. West Bancorporation had a return on equity of 13.40% and a net margin of 16.04%. Equities research analysts forecast that West Bancorporation, Inc. will post 1.65 earnings per share for the current year.

West Bancorporation Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 5th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 5th. West Bancorporation’s payout ratio is presently 52.63%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On West Bancorporation

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its stake in shares of West Bancorporation by 10.9% in the 3rd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 20,290 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $412,000 after buying an additional 2,000 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP raised its position in West Bancorporation by 102.5% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 39,200 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $797,000 after acquiring an additional 19,846 shares in the last quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in West Bancorporation in the third quarter worth about $305,000. Rhino Investment Partners Inc bought a new position in shares of West Bancorporation during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,918,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake in shares of West Bancorporation by 14.5% in the 3rd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 58,655 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,192,000 after purchasing an additional 7,428 shares during the last quarter. 44.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on WTBA shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of West Bancorporation in a research report on Monday. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on West Bancorporation from $20.50 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 27th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded West Bancorporation from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $24.00.

West Bancorporation Company Profile

West Bancorporation, Inc operates as the financial holding company provides community banking and trust services to individuals and small- to medium-sized businesses in the United States. It offers deposit services, including checking, savings, and money market accounts, as well as time certificates of deposit.