West Bancorporation (NASDAQ:WTBA) Cut to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of West Bancorporation (NASDAQ:WTBA) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Saturday.

WTBA has been the topic of a number of other reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of West Bancorporation in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on West Bancorporation from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Hovde Group raised their target price on West Bancorporation from $25.50 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $29.00.

West Bancorporation Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of West Bancorporation stock opened at $28.25 on Friday. West Bancorporation has a twelve month low of $17.31 and a twelve month high of $28.80. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33. The company’s 50 day moving average is $25.92 and its 200 day moving average is $24.74. The company has a market cap of $481.38 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.67 and a beta of 0.71.

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 business had revenue of $28.22 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 previous year, the firm posted $0.47 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that West Bancorporation will post 2.59 EPS for the current year.

West Bancorporation Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 5th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.7%. This is a boost from West Bancorporation’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. West Bancorporation’s dividend payout ratio is 44.84%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On West Bancorporation

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WTBA. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in West Bancorporation by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 875,719 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $17,795,000 after purchasing an additional 37,502 shares during the period. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in West Bancorporation by 0.4% in 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. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of West Bancorporation by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 354,382 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,864,000 after buying an additional 1,454 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in shares of West Bancorporation by 14.5% in the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 58,655 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,192,000 after buying an additional 7,428 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of West Bancorporation by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 46,607 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,035,000 after buying an additional 1,366 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 44.30% of the company’s stock.

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.