Westamerica Bancorporation (NASDAQ:WABC) Lowered to Sell at StockNews.com

Westamerica Bancorporation (NASDAQ:WABC) was downgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note issued on Thursday.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports 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 shares of Westamerica Bancorporation from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $57.00.

Westamerica Bancorporation Stock Down 0.4 %

Westamerica Bancorporation stock traded down $0.20 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $47.55. 98,673 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 132,321. Westamerica Bancorporation has a 1 year low of $42.28 and a 1 year high of $58.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.25 and a quick ratio of 0.25. The firm has a market cap of $1.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.03 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $50.39 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $49.19.

Westamerica Bancorporation (NASDAQ:WABC) last announced its 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. Westamerica Bancorporation had a return on equity of 20.17% and a net margin of 47.12%. The business had revenue of $79.57 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $74.28 million. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Westamerica Bancorporation will post 5.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Westamerica Bancorporation

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new stake in Westamerica Bancorporation during the second quarter valued at $36,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Westamerica Bancorporation during the 1st quarter valued at about $75,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake 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 worth $90,000 after acquiring an additional 226 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in Westamerica Bancorporation in the first quarter worth about $113,000. Finally, SageView Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in Westamerica Bancorporation in the first quarter worth about $140,000. 81.89% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.