West Bancorporation (NASDAQ:WTBA) Stock Crosses Above 200 Day Moving Average – Should You Sell?

West Bancorporation, Inc. (NASDAQ:WTBA)’s share price crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Friday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $25.31 and traded as high as $28.75. West Bancorporation shares last traded at $28.54, with a volume of 124,918 shares.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WTBA has been the subject of several analyst reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of West Bancorporation in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of West Bancorporation from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. Hovde Group boosted their price objective on shares of West Bancorporation from $25.50 to $28.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price on West Bancorporation from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $29.00.

West Bancorporation Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The stock has a market cap of $486.44 million, a P/E ratio of 12.80 and a beta of 0.71. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $27.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $25.31.

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

West Bancorporation Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 5th were paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 5th. This is a boost from West Bancorporation’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.6%. West Bancorporation’s payout ratio is presently 46.64%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in West Bancorporation by 7.5% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 38,547 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $769,000 after acquiring an additional 2,675 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of West Bancorporation during the first quarter valued at about $464,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of West Bancorporation by 27.9% during the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 17,436 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $346,000 after purchasing an additional 3,799 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of West Bancorporation during the second quarter valued at about $212,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership bought a new stake in shares of West Bancorporation during the second quarter worth about $1,006,000. 44.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.