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

Westamerica Bancorporation (NASDAQ:WABC) issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The financial services provider reported $1.37 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.39 by ($0.02), Yahoo Finance reports. The firm 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 Stock Performance

Shares of WABC opened at $46.78 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $46.87 and a 200-day moving average price of $48.98. Westamerica Bancorporation has a fifty-two week low of $35.52 and a fifty-two week high of $57.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.25 billion, a PE ratio of 7.90 and a beta of 0.56.

Westamerica Bancorporation Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at Westamerica Bancorporation

In other news, CEO David L. Payne sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,362,277.75. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO David L. Payne sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,362,277.75. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO David L. Payne sold 8,728 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.95, for a total transaction of $444,691.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 333,689 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,001,454.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 45,000 shares of company stock valued at $2,213,458. Company insiders own 4.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of WABC. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in shares of Westamerica Bancorporation by 161.7% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 695,619 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $41,049,000 after acquiring an additional 429,802 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Westamerica Bancorporation during the 4th quarter worth approximately $12,477,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main raised its stake in shares of Westamerica Bancorporation by 675.0% during the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 233,361 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $13,771,000 after acquiring an additional 203,249 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. increased its stake in Westamerica Bancorporation by 4.7% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 3,982,861 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $176,441,000 after purchasing an additional 179,782 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp increased its stake in Westamerica Bancorporation by 16.0% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,240,653 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $54,961,000 after purchasing an additional 171,433 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.89% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Westamerica Bancorporation Company Profile

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.