StockNews.com Lowers Westamerica Bancorporation (NASDAQ:WABC) to Sell

Westamerica Bancorporation (NASDAQ:WABC) was downgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note issued on Tuesday.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on WABC. Piper Sandler cut their target price on Westamerica Bancorporation from $56.00 to $55.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on Westamerica Bancorporation from $60.00 to $58.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 19th.

Westamerica Bancorporation Price Performance

WABC stock opened at $46.45 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $46.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $48.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.24 billion, a PE ratio of 7.67 and a beta of 0.56. Westamerica Bancorporation has a 1 year low of $35.52 and a 1 year high of $57.96.

Westamerica Bancorporation (NASDAQ:WABC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $80.37 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $81.03 million. Westamerica Bancorporation had a net margin of 49.39% and a return on equity of 23.61%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Westamerica Bancorporation will post 5.35 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Westamerica Bancorporation

In other news, CEO David L. Payne sold 11,272 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.79, for a total transaction of $527,416.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 242,417 shares in the company, valued at $11,342,691.43. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, CEO David L. Payne sold 11,272 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.79, for a total transaction of $527,416.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 242,417 shares in the company, valued at $11,342,691.43. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO David L. Payne sold 8,728 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.95, for a total value of $444,691.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 333,689 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,001,454.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 45,000 shares of company stock worth $2,213,458 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 5.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BlackRock Inc. boosted its holdings in Westamerica Bancorporation by 4.7% in the first 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 during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Westamerica Bancorporation by 1.4% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,218,835 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $168,312,000 after purchasing an additional 43,011 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Westamerica Bancorporation by 7.6% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,334,460 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $51,110,000 after purchasing an additional 93,807 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in Westamerica Bancorporation by 20.8% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,198,333 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $51,828,000 after purchasing an additional 206,376 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Westamerica Bancorporation by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 782,733 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $44,155,000 after purchasing an additional 21,547 shares during the period. 81.89% of the stock is currently 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.