Westamerica Bancorporation (NASDAQ:WABC) Issues Earnings Results

Westamerica Bancorporation (NASDAQ:WABC) issued its earnings results on Thursday. The financial services provider reported $1.37 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by ($0.02), Yahoo Finance reports. The business had revenue of $78.84 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $77.34 million. Westamerica Bancorporation had a return on equity of 22.79% and a net margin of 48.35%.

Westamerica Bancorporation Stock Up 2.7 %

NASDAQ WABC opened at $46.78 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.90 and a beta of 0.56. Westamerica Bancorporation has a 52 week low of $35.52 and a 52 week high of $57.96. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $46.87 and a 200-day moving average price of $48.98.

Westamerica Bancorporation Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 5th were issued a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 2nd. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.76%. Westamerica Bancorporation’s dividend payout ratio is 29.73%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO David L. Payne sold 15,000 shares of Westamerica Bancorporation stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.75, for a total transaction of $746,250.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 288,689 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,362,277.75. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CEO David L. Payne sold 15,000 shares of Westamerica Bancorporation stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.75, for a total transaction of $746,250.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 288,689 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,362,277.75. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO David L. Payne sold 8,728 shares of Westamerica Bancorporation stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.95, for a total value of $444,691.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 333,689 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,001,454.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 45,000 shares of company stock worth $2,213,458 over the last quarter. 4.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WABC. Point72 Middle East FZE purchased a new position in Westamerica Bancorporation in the second quarter worth $34,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its position in Westamerica Bancorporation by 91.0% in the second quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,293 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 616 shares during the last quarter. Money Concepts Capital Corp purchased a new position in Westamerica Bancorporation in the fourth quarter worth $70,000. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its position in Westamerica Bancorporation by 123.9% in the first quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,547 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $94,000 after purchasing an additional 856 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in Westamerica Bancorporation in the second quarter worth $115,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.89% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on Westamerica Bancorporation from $51.00 to $50.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on Westamerica Bancorporation from $60.00 to $58.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 19th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Westamerica Bancorporation from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday.

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.