Westamerica Bancorporation (NASDAQ:WABC) Rating Lowered to “Sell” at Wall Street Zen

Westamerica Bancorporation (NASDAQ:WABC) was downgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note issued on Saturday.

WABC has been the topic of several other research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on shares of Westamerica Bancorporation from $55.00 to $54.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 21st. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Westamerica Bancorporation in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $52.00.

Westamerica Bancorporation Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of Westamerica Bancorporation stock opened at $47.65 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.21 billion, a PE ratio of 10.38 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 0.29 and a quick ratio of 0.29. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $48.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $48.73. Westamerica Bancorporation has a 52-week low of $42.00 and a 52-week high of $59.97.

Westamerica Bancorporation (NASDAQ:WABC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $64.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.20 million. Westamerica Bancorporation had a net margin of 43.19% and a return on equity of 13.10%. On average, analysts expect that Westamerica Bancorporation will post 4.35 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Westamerica Bancorporation

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in WABC. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of Westamerica Bancorporation by 14.8% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 23,255 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,177,000 after purchasing an additional 3,006 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Westamerica Bancorporation by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 150,220 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,606,000 after acquiring an additional 5,356 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Westamerica Bancorporation by 4.5% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 8,325 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $421,000 after acquiring an additional 362 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP grew its holdings in Westamerica Bancorporation by 13.0% during the 1st quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 4,426 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $214,000 after acquiring an additional 510 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC grew its holdings in Westamerica Bancorporation by 70.2% during the 1st quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 9,627 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $487,000 after acquiring an additional 3,972 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.89% 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.