Westamerica Bancorporation (NASDAQ:WABC) Short Interest Update

Westamerica Bancorporation (NASDAQ:WABC) was the target of a significant drop in short interest during the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 256,600 shares, a drop of 23.5% from the September 15th total of 335,400 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 122,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.1 days. Approximately 1.0% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Institutional Trading of Westamerica Bancorporation

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WABC. Sei Investments Co. increased its holdings in Westamerica Bancorporation by 21.7% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 121,436 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,936,000 after acquiring an additional 21,624 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in Westamerica Bancorporation by 124.0% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 26,620 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,301,000 after purchasing an additional 14,738 shares during the period. Kennedy Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Westamerica Bancorporation by 70.2% during the 1st quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 252,177 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $12,326,000 after acquiring an additional 104,029 shares during the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP bought a new position in Westamerica Bancorporation in the 1st quarter valued at $258,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Westamerica Bancorporation by 0.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,512,538 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $171,693,000 after purchasing an additional 19,654 shares during the period. 81.89% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on WABC. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Westamerica Bancorporation from $50.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Maxim Group lowered Westamerica Bancorporation from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Westamerica Bancorporation from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and three have issued a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $57.00.

Westamerica Bancorporation Stock Up 1.2 %

Westamerica Bancorporation stock traded up $0.59 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $49.56. The stock had a trading volume of 14,491 shares, compared to its average volume of 130,827. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $49.54 and its 200-day moving average price is $49.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. Westamerica Bancorporation has a 12-month low of $43.56 and a 12-month high of $58.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.27 and a beta of 0.55.

Westamerica Bancorporation (NASDAQ:WABC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.30 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $79.57 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $74.28 million. Westamerica Bancorporation had a return on equity of 20.17% and a net margin of 47.12%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Westamerica Bancorporation will post 5.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Westamerica Bancorporation Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 16th. Investors of record on Monday, August 5th were paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 5th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.55%. Westamerica Bancorporation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.73%.

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.