Westamerica Bancorporation (NASDAQ:WABC) Posts Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.02 EPS

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

Westamerica Bancorporation Trading Up 2.7 %

NASDAQ WABC opened at $46.78 on Friday. Westamerica Bancorporation has a 12 month low of $35.52 and a 12 month high of $57.96. The stock has a market cap of $1.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.90 and a beta of 0.56. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $46.87 and its 200-day moving average price is $48.98.

Westamerica Bancorporation Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at Westamerica Bancorporation

In other news, CEO David L. Payne sold 11,272 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.79, for a total value of $527,416.88. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 242,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,342,691.43. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CEO David L. Payne sold 11,272 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.79, for a total value of $527,416.88. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 242,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,342,691.43. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO David L. Payne sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.51, for a total value of $495,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 268,689 shares in the company, valued at $13,302,792.39. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 45,000 shares of company stock valued at $2,213,458. Insiders own 4.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Westamerica Bancorporation

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of Westamerica Bancorporation by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 53,765 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,033,000 after buying an additional 480 shares during the last quarter. Virtus Investment Advisers Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Westamerica Bancorporation during the fourth quarter valued at $654,000. Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of Westamerica Bancorporation by 39.6% during the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 55,863 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,151,000 after buying an additional 15,858 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its position in shares of Westamerica Bancorporation by 67.9% during the fourth quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 55,302 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,120,000 after buying an additional 22,364 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted its position in shares of Westamerica Bancorporation by 27.7% during the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 20,888 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,178,000 after buying an additional 4,533 shares during the last quarter. 81.89% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on WABC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective 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. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on Westamerica Bancorporation from $51.00 to $50.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday. 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.