Westamerica Bancorporation (NASDAQ:WABC) Short Interest Down 23.5% in September

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

Institutional Trading of Westamerica Bancorporation

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on WABC shares. StockNews.com cut Westamerica Bancorporation from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Westamerica Bancorporation from $50.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Maxim Group downgraded shares of Westamerica Bancorporation from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and three have issued a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $57.00.

Westamerica Bancorporation Stock Performance

Shares of WABC traded up $0.77 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $50.46. 8,722 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 130,501. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a current ratio of 0.25. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $49.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $49.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.39 and a beta of 0.55. Westamerica Bancorporation has a 12 month low of $43.56 and a 12 month high of $58.49.

Westamerica Bancorporation (NASDAQ:WABC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analysts predict that Westamerica Bancorporation will post 5.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Westamerica Bancorporation Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 16th. Investors of record on Monday, August 5th were given a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 5th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.49%. Westamerica Bancorporation’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.73%.

Westamerica Bancorporation Company 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.