West Bancorporation (NASDAQ:WTBA) Share Price Breaks Above 200 Day Moving Average – Here’s What Happened

West Bancorporation, Inc. (NASDAQ:WTBA) crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Friday. The stock has a 200-day moving average of $25.96 and traded as high as $29.39. West Bancorporation shares last traded at $29.19, with a volume of 38,854 shares.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on WTBA. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of West Bancorporation in a research note on Wednesday, September 2nd. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on West Bancorporation from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Hovde Group upped their price target on West Bancorporation from $25.50 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut West Bancorporation from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $29.00.

West Bancorporation Stock Performance

The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $28.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $25.96. The company has a market cap of $497.40 million, a P/E ratio of 13.09 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33.

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

West Bancorporation Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 5th were issued a $0.26 dividend. This is a positive change from West Bancorporation’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 5th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. West Bancorporation’s payout ratio is currently 46.64%.

Institutional Trading of West Bancorporation

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of West Bancorporation by 4.2% during the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 11,186 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $297,000 after purchasing an additional 448 shares during the period. Independent Wealth Network Inc. lifted its position in West Bancorporation by 42.0% in the first quarter. Independent Wealth Network Inc. now owns 14,698 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $350,000 after purchasing an additional 4,345 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its position in West Bancorporation by 28.8% in the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 34,480 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $820,000 after purchasing an additional 7,702 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC boosted its stake in West Bancorporation by 332.0% during the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 36,548 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $970,000 after buying an additional 28,087 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aptus Capital Advisors LLC boosted 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 buying an additional 1,763 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 44.30% of the company’s stock.

About West Bancorporation

West Bancorporation, Inc is a bank holding company headquartered in West Des Moines, Iowa. Its principal subsidiary, West Bank, is a community bank that provides financial services to businesses, individuals and institutions.

West Bank offers commercial and industrial lending, commercial real estate loans, agricultural financing, residential mortgage loans and consumer credit. Its deposit products include checking, savings, money market and certificate of deposit accounts, while additional services include treasury management, online and mobile banking, cash management, trust services and investment management.

The company primarily serves customers in Iowa, including the Des Moines metropolitan area and other communities in central and eastern Iowa, as well as selected markets in neighboring states.