Hovde Group Initiates Coverage on West Bancorporation (NASDAQ:WTBA)

Equities researchers at Hovde Group initiated coverage on shares of West Bancorporation (NASDAQ:WTBA) in a report released on Monday. The firm set a “market perform” rating and a $25.50 price target on the financial services provider’s stock. Hovde Group’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 5.81% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on WTBA. Weiss Ratings raised West Bancorporation from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Zacks Research raised West Bancorporation from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $24.75.

West Bancorporation Stock Performance

Shares of WTBA opened at $24.10 on Monday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $24.34 and its 200 day moving average price is $22.62. West Bancorporation has a 52 week low of $17.31 and a 52 week high of $26.60. The company has a market capitalization of $408.25 million, a PE ratio of 12.62 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 0.99.

West Bancorporation (NASDAQ:WTBA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.04. West Bancorporation had a return on equity of 14.28% and a net margin of 16.08%.The business had revenue of $27.34 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $26.70 million. Research analysts expect that West Bancorporation will post 1.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On West Bancorporation

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in West Bancorporation by 4.5% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 875,719 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $17,795,000 after buying an additional 37,502 shares during the period. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in West Bancorporation by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 404,427 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,974,000 after purchasing an additional 1,763 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of West Bancorporation by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 354,382 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,864,000 after buying an additional 1,454 shares during the last quarter. Rhino Investment Partners Inc purchased a new stake in shares of West Bancorporation in the third quarter worth about $1,918,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in shares of West Bancorporation by 14.5% in the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 58,655 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,192,000 after buying an additional 7,428 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 44.30% of the company’s stock.

About West Bancorporation

West Bancorporation, Inc is the bank holding company for West Town Bank and Trust, a full-service community bank headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Through its subsidiary, the company offers a comprehensive suite of commercial and consumer banking products, including deposit accounts, residential and commercial mortgages, business loans and treasury management services. West Bancorporation focuses on delivering personalized financial solutions to small- and medium-sized businesses, real estate developers and individual customers within its urban market.

Since launching operations in 2006, West Town Bank and Trust has steadily expanded its presence across the Chicago metropolitan area.