Westamerica Bancorporation (NASDAQ:WABC) Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.44

Westamerica Bancorporation (NASDAQ:WABC) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, April 25th, Zacks reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 6th will be paid a dividend of 0.44 per share by the financial services provider on Friday, May 17th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 3rd.

Westamerica Bancorporation has increased its dividend by an average of 1.6% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 1 consecutive years. Westamerica Bancorporation has a dividend payout ratio of 37.4% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Westamerica Bancorporation to earn $4.65 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.76 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 37.8%.

Westamerica Bancorporation Stock Up 0.5 %

WABC traded up $0.23 during trading on Friday, hitting $47.44. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 151,506 shares, compared to its average volume of 123,692. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $47.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $49.11. Westamerica Bancorporation has a 12 month low of $35.52 and a 12 month high of $57.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.01 and a beta of 0.56.

Westamerica Bancorporation (NASDAQ:WABC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The financial services provider reported $1.37 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $78.84 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $77.34 million. Westamerica Bancorporation had a return on equity of 21.99% and a net margin of 48.35%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Westamerica Bancorporation will post 5.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. StockNews.com cut Westamerica Bancorporation from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $57.00 price target (down from $58.00) on shares of Westamerica Bancorporation in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on Westamerica Bancorporation from $51.00 to $50.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 19th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Westamerica Bancorporation

In other Westamerica Bancorporation news, CEO David L. Payne sold 11,272 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.79, for a total value of $527,416.88. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 242,417 shares in the company, valued at $11,342,691.43. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, CEO David L. Payne sold 11,272 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.79, for a total transaction of $527,416.88. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 242,417 shares in the company, valued at $11,342,691.43. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO David L. Payne sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.51, for a total value of $495,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 268,689 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,302,792.39. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 22,372 shares of company stock worth $1,074,481 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 4.40% of the company’s stock.

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.