Westamerica Bancorporation (NASDAQ:WABC) Issues Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.02 EPS

Westamerica Bancorporation (NASDAQ:WABC) posted its quarterly 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. Westamerica Bancorporation had a return on equity of 23.61% and a net margin of 49.39%.

Westamerica Bancorporation Trading Up 0.1 %

NASDAQ WABC opened at $45.55 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $46.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $48.95. Westamerica Bancorporation has a 12 month low of $35.52 and a 12 month high of $57.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.52 and a beta of 0.56.

Westamerica Bancorporation Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 16th. Investors 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 yield of 3.86%. Westamerica Bancorporation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.04%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on Westamerica Bancorporation from $60.00 to $58.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 19th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Westamerica Bancorporation from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of Westamerica Bancorporation from $56.00 to $55.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 19th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO David L. Payne sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.75, for a total value of $746,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 288,689 shares in the company, valued at $14,362,277.75. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CEO David L. Payne sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.75, for a total value of $746,250.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 288,689 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,362,277.75. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO David L. Payne sold 11,272 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.79, for a total value of $527,416.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 242,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,342,691.43. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 45,000 shares of company stock valued at $2,213,458 in the last three months. 4.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Westamerica Bancorporation

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in WABC. Point72 Middle East FZE purchased a new stake in Westamerica Bancorporation during the second quarter worth about $34,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Westamerica Bancorporation by 91.0% during the 2nd 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 stake in shares of Westamerica Bancorporation during the 4th quarter worth approximately $70,000. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its holdings in shares of Westamerica Bancorporation by 123.9% in the 1st 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 period. Finally, Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in Westamerica Bancorporation in the second quarter valued at approximately $115,000. 81.89% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.