Victory Capital Management Inc. Grows Stock Position in Westamerica Bancorporation (NASDAQ:WABC)

Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Westamerica Bancorporation (NASDAQ:WABC) by 4.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,726 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 837 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned approximately 0.08% of Westamerica Bancorporation worth $1,054,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Westamerica Bancorporation in the first quarter valued at approximately $75,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Westamerica Bancorporation by 13.8% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,862 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $90,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Westamerica Bancorporation during the first quarter valued at $113,000. SageView Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Westamerica Bancorporation in the first quarter valued at about $140,000. Finally, CWM LLC increased its stake in shares of Westamerica Bancorporation by 248.3% during the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,135 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $153,000 after purchasing an additional 2,235 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.89% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on WABC shares. Maxim Group lowered Westamerica Bancorporation from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Westamerica Bancorporation from $50.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Westamerica Bancorporation from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $57.00.

Westamerica Bancorporation Price Performance

WABC stock opened at $49.93 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $51.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $49.06. The company has a market capitalization of $1.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.58 and a beta of 0.55. Westamerica Bancorporation has a twelve month low of $41.89 and a twelve month high of $58.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

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

Westamerica Bancorporation Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 5th were paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 5th. Westamerica Bancorporation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.