Squarepoint Ops LLC Makes New Investment in Westamerica Bancorporation (NASDAQ:WABC)

Squarepoint Ops LLC acquired a new position in Westamerica Bancorporation (NASDAQ:WABC) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 4,584 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $240,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of WABC. WINTON GROUP Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Westamerica Bancorporation by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 21,619 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,134,000 after buying an additional 227 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank grew its holdings in shares of Westamerica Bancorporation by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 52,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,754,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Westamerica Bancorporation by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 14,619 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $767,000 after buying an additional 510 shares during the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Westamerica Bancorporation by 815.6% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 824 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 734 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its holdings in shares of Westamerica Bancorporation by 71.4% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,974 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $104,000 after buying an additional 822 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.89% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Westamerica Bancorporation

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on WABC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of Westamerica Bancorporation from $58.00 to $55.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 21st. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of Westamerica Bancorporation from $54.00 to $50.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Westamerica Bancorporation from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th.

Westamerica Bancorporation Stock Performance

WABC opened at $48.54 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.33 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a fifty day moving average of $47.83 and a 200 day moving average of $50.73. Westamerica Bancorporation has a fifty-two week low of $42.00 and a fifty-two week high of $59.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a current ratio of 0.27.

Westamerica Bancorporation (NASDAQ:WABC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.09 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $66.71 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $66.47 million. Westamerica Bancorporation had a net margin of 44.55% and a return on equity of 16.15%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Westamerica Bancorporation will post 4.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Westamerica Bancorporation Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Investors of record on Monday, May 5th were paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.79%. This is a boost from Westamerica Bancorporation’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 5th. Westamerica Bancorporation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.87%.

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.