Westamerica Bancorporation (NASDAQ:WABC) Cut to Sell at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Westamerica Bancorporation (NASDAQ:WABC) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report published on Saturday.

WABC has been the subject of a number of other reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Westamerica Bancorporation in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of Westamerica Bancorporation from $55.00 to $54.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat, Westamerica Bancorporation has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $52.00.

Westamerica Bancorporation Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of WABC stock opened at $47.15 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $48.48 and a 200-day moving average of $48.74. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Westamerica Bancorporation has a 12-month low of $42.00 and a 12-month high of $59.97. The firm has a market cap of $1.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.27 and a beta of 0.61.

Westamerica Bancorporation (NASDAQ:WABC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.04. Westamerica Bancorporation had a net margin of 43.19% and a return on equity of 13.10%. The company had revenue of $64.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.20 million. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Westamerica Bancorporation will post 4.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Westamerica Bancorporation Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 3rd will be given a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 3rd. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.9%. Westamerica Bancorporation’s payout ratio is presently 40.09%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WABC. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Westamerica Bancorporation by 354.3% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 854 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 666 shares during the period. MAI Capital Management grew its stake in Westamerica Bancorporation by 126.1% during the second quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 866 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 483 shares in the last quarter. Strs Ohio bought a new position in Westamerica Bancorporation during the first quarter valued at $96,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp bought a new position in Westamerica Bancorporation during the first quarter valued at $99,000. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in Westamerica Bancorporation during the second quarter valued at $144,000. Institutional investors own 81.89% of the company’s stock.

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.