Douglas Gulling Sells 7,900 Shares of West Bancorporation (NASDAQ:WTBA) Stock

West Bancorporation, Inc. (NASDAQ:WTBA) Director Douglas Gulling sold 7,900 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.75, for a total value of $171,825.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 72,338 shares in the company, valued at $1,573,351.50. The trade was a 9.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

West Bancorporation Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of West Bancorporation stock traded down $0.03 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $21.84. 34,564 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 32,765. The firm has a market capitalization of $369.99 million, a PE ratio of 11.49 and a beta of 0.91. West Bancorporation, Inc. has a 1-year low of $17.31 and a 1-year high of $24.85. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $20.54 and a 200-day moving average price of $19.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.97.

West Bancorporation (NASDAQ:WTBA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.08. West Bancorporation had a net margin of 16.04% and a return on equity of 13.40%. The firm had revenue of $25.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $24.20 million. As a group, equities research analysts expect that West Bancorporation, Inc. will post 1.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

West Bancorporation Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 5th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.6%. West Bancorporation’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.63%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On West Bancorporation

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in West Bancorporation by 68.9% during the second quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,618 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 660 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its stake in shares of West Bancorporation by 157.6% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,672 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 1,023 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its position in shares of West Bancorporation by 662.9% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 3,784 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $74,000 after purchasing an additional 3,288 shares during the period. City State Bank lifted its stake in shares of West Bancorporation by 17.6% during the 3rd quarter. City State Bank now owns 9,354 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $190,000 after buying an additional 1,400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in West Bancorporation by 20.5% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 9,334 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $190,000 after buying an additional 1,585 shares during the period. 44.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on WTBA. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of West Bancorporation in a report on Tuesday. Piper Sandler raised their target price on West Bancorporation from $20.50 to $24.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 27th. Finally, Zacks Research raised West Bancorporation from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $24.00.

West Bancorporation Company Profile

West Bancorporation, Inc operates as the financial holding company provides community banking and trust services to individuals and small- to medium-sized businesses in the United States. It offers deposit services, including checking, savings, and money market accounts, as well as time certificates of deposit.