Ameriprise Financial Inc. Has $8.86 Million Position in Westamerica Bancorporation (NASDAQ:WABC)

Ameriprise Financial Inc. reduced its position in shares of Westamerica Bancorporation (NASDAQ:WABC) by 21.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 168,819 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 45,371 shares during the quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned 0.63% of Westamerica Bancorporation worth $8,856,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. WINTON GROUP Ltd increased its stake in shares of Westamerica Bancorporation by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 21,619 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,134,000 after acquiring an additional 227 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank increased its stake in shares of Westamerica Bancorporation by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 52,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,754,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Westamerica Bancorporation by 815.6% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 824 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 734 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its stake in shares of Westamerica Bancorporation by 71.4% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,974 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $104,000 after acquiring an additional 822 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Westamerica Bancorporation by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 15,607 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $819,000 after purchasing an additional 856 shares in the last quarter. 81.89% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on WABC. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Westamerica Bancorporation from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of Westamerica Bancorporation from $58.00 to $55.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of Westamerica Bancorporation from $54.00 to $50.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 21st.

Insider Activity at Westamerica Bancorporation

In other news, SVP John A. Thorson sold 2,243 shares of Westamerica Bancorporation stock in a transaction on Monday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.57, for a total value of $108,942.51. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,591 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $562,974.87. This trade represents a 16.21% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Robert James Baker, Jr. sold 710 shares of Westamerica Bancorporation stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.16, for a total value of $34,193.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 5.30% of the company’s stock.

Westamerica Bancorporation Stock Up 1.2%

NASDAQ WABC opened at $50.19 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a current ratio of 0.27. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $48.58 and a 200 day simple moving average of $51.44. Westamerica Bancorporation has a twelve month low of $42.00 and a twelve month high of $59.97. The stock has a market cap of $1.31 billion, a PE ratio of 9.65 and a beta of 0.64.

Westamerica Bancorporation (NASDAQ:WABC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.09 by $0.07. Westamerica Bancorporation had a net margin of 44.55% and a return on equity of 16.15%. The firm had revenue of $66.71 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $66.47 million. On average, research analysts forecast that Westamerica Bancorporation will post 4.35 EPS for the current year.

Westamerica Bancorporation Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Investors of record on Monday, May 5th were issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.67%. This is a boost from Westamerica Bancorporation’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 5th. Westamerica Bancorporation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.87%.

Westamerica Bancorporation 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.