Inspire Investing LLC Has $343,000 Stock Position in Westamerica Bancorporation $WABC

Inspire Investing LLC reduced its stake in shares of Westamerica Bancorporation (NASDAQ:WABC) by 11.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,781 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 879 shares during the quarter. Inspire Investing LLC’s holdings in Westamerica Bancorporation were worth $343,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in WABC. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Westamerica Bancorporation during the first quarter worth approximately $17,023,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Westamerica Bancorporation by 4,946.6% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 109,310 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,534,000 after acquiring an additional 107,144 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of Westamerica Bancorporation by 4.9% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,847,338 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $93,531,000 after purchasing an additional 86,850 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC raised its position in shares of Westamerica Bancorporation by 815.8% in the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 67,469 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,416,000 after purchasing an additional 60,102 shares during the period. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Westamerica Bancorporation in the first quarter valued at approximately $2,719,000. 81.89% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Westamerica Bancorporation from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of Westamerica Bancorporation from $55.00 to $54.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $52.00.

Westamerica Bancorporation Price Performance

Shares of WABC opened at $48.06 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.05 and a beta of 0.65. Westamerica Bancorporation has a twelve month low of $42.00 and a twelve month high of $59.97. The company has a 50 day moving average of $49.39 and a 200-day moving average of $48.92. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11.

Westamerica Bancorporation (NASDAQ:WABC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.01. Westamerica Bancorporation had a net margin of 43.69% and a return on equity of 13.81%. The company had revenue of $64.88 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $65.80 million. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Westamerica Bancorporation will post 4.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Westamerica Bancorporation Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 4th were issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 4th. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. Westamerica Bancorporation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.49%.

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.