Westamerica Bancorporation (WABC) Stock Price, News & Analysis

Company Overview

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. Its loan portfolio includes commercial, commercial and residential real estate, real estate construction, and consumer installment loans, as well as indirect automobile loans. The company was formerly known as Independent Bankshares Corporation and changed its name to Westamerica Bancorporation in 1983. The company was founded in 1884 and is headquartered in San Rafael, California.

Key Stats

• Today's Range: $43.57 to $47.46
• 50-Day Range: $44.72 to $52.12
• 52-Week Range: $43.61 to $59.97
• Volume: 290,671 shs
• Average Volume: 126,782 shs
• Market Capitalization: $1.24 billion
• P/E Ratio: 8.94
• Dividend Yield: 3.79%
• Price Target: $57.00
• Consensus Rating: Hold

Westamerica Bancorporation Stock Analysis - MarketRank™

Westamerica Bancorporation scored higher than 60% of companies evaluated by MarketBeat, and ranked 436th out of 929 stocks in the finance sector. Scores are calculated by averaging available category scores, with extra weight given to analysis and valuation.

Analyst's Opinion

• Score: 2.0 / 5
• Analyst Rating: Hold

Consensus Rating

Westamerica Bancorporation has received a consensus rating of Hold. The company's average rating score is 2.00, and is based on no buy ratings, 3 hold ratings, and no sell ratings.

Amount of Analyst Coverage

Westamerica Bancorporation has received no research coverage in the past 90 days.

Earnings and Valuation

• Score: 1.3 / 5
• Proj. Earnings Growth: -9.20%

Earnings Growth

Earnings for Westamerica Bancorporation are expected to decrease by -9.20% in the coming year, from $4.35 to $3.95 per share.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. the Market

The P/E ratio of Westamerica Bancorporation is 8.94, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the market average P/E ratio of about 20.86.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. Sector

The P/E ratio of Westamerica Bancorporation is 8.94, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the Finance sector average P/E ratio of about 21.56.

Price to Book Value per Share Ratio

Westamerica Bancorporation has a P/B Ratio of 1.39. P/B Ratios below 3 indicates that a company is reasonably valued with respect to its assets and liabilities.

Short Interest

• Score: 3.0 / 5
• Short Interest Level: Healthy

Percentage of Shares Shorted

1.10% of the float of Westamerica Bancorporation has been sold short.

Short Interest Ratio / Days to Cover

Westamerica Bancorporation has a short interest ratio ("days to cover") of 2, which is generally considered an acceptable ratio of short interest to trading volume.

Change versus previous month

Short interest in Westamerica Bancorporation has recently increased by 21.67%, indicating that investor sentiment is decreasing significantly.

Dividend

• Score: 5.0 / 5
• Dividend Strength: Strong

Dividend Leadership

Westamerica Bancorporation is a leading dividend payer. It pays a dividend yield of 3.88%, putting its dividend yield in the top 25% of dividend-paying stocks.

Dividend Growth

Westamerica Bancorporation has been increasing its dividend for 33 years.

Dividend Coverage

The dividend payout ratio of Westamerica Bancorporation is 33.85%. This payout ratio is at a healthy, sustainable level, below 75%.

Dividend Sustainability

Based on earnings estimates, Westamerica Bancorporation will have a dividend payout ratio of 44.56% next year. This indicates that Westamerica Bancorporation will be able to sustain or increase its dividend.

Sustainability and ESG

• Score: N/A
• Environmental Score: N/A

Percentage of Shares Shorted

1.10% of the float of Westamerica Bancorporation has been sold short.

Short Interest Ratio / Days to Cover

Westamerica Bancorporation has a short interest ratio ("days to cover") of 2, which is generally considered an acceptable ratio of short interest to trading volume.

Change versus previous month

Short interest in Westamerica Bancorporation has recently increased by 21.67%, indicating that investor sentiment is decreasing significantly.

News and Social Media

• Score: 2.0 / 5
• News Sentiment: 0.60

News Sentiment

Westamerica Bancorporation has a news sentiment score of 0.60. This score is calculated as an average of sentiment of articles about the company over the last seven days and ranges from 2 (good news) to -2 (bad news). This is a lower news sentiment than the 0.83 average news sentiment score of Finance companies.

News Coverage This Week

MarketBeat has tracked 9 news articles for Westamerica Bancorporation this week, compared to 2 articles on an average week.

Company Ownership

• Score: 2.5 / 5
• Insider Trading: Selling Shares

Insider Buying vs. Insider Selling

In the past three months, Westamerica Bancorporation insiders have sold more of their company's stock than they have bought. Specifically, they have bought $0.00 in company stock and sold $12,836.00 in company stock.

Percentage Held by Insiders

Only 5.30% of the stock of Westamerica Bancorporation is held by insiders.

Percentage Held by Institutions

81.89% of the stock of Westamerica Bancorporation is held by institutions. High institutional ownership can be a signal of strong market trust in this company.

WABC Stock Analysis - Frequently Asked Questions

How have WABC shares performed this year?

Westamerica Bancorporation's stock was trading at $52.46 on January 1st, 2025. Since then, WABC shares have decreased by 11.4% and is now trading at $46.49.
View the best growth stocks for 2025 here.

How were Westamerica Bancorporation's earnings last quarter?

Westamerica Bancorporation (NASDAQ:WABC) announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January, 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.19. Westamerica Bancorporation had a trailing twelve-month return on equity of 16.15% and a net margin of 44.55%.

Who are Westamerica Bancorporation's major shareholders?

Top institutional investors of Westamerica Bancorporation include GAMMA Investing LLC (0.41%) and Rhumbline Advisers (0.32%). Insiders that own company stock include David L Payne, George S Ensinger, Robert James Baker Jr, Michele R Hassid, Inez Wondeh, Alisa Jane Belew, Curtis Belton and John A Thorson.
View institutional ownership trends.

How do I buy shares of Westamerica Bancorporation?

Shares of WABC stock can be purchased through any online brokerage account. Popular online brokerages with access to the U.S. stock market include Charles Schwab, E*TRADE, Fidelity, and Vanguard Brokerage Services.

What other stocks do shareholders of Westamerica Bancorporation own?

Based on aggregate information from My MarketBeat watchlists, some other companies that Westamerica Bancorporation investors own include American Water Works (AWK), Humana (HUM), Waste Connections (WCN), The RMR Group (RMR), Voyager Therapeutics (VYGR), DiamondRock Hospitality (DRH) and iShares Micro-Cap ETF (IWC).

Company Calendar

• Last Earnings: 1/16/2025
• Record date for 2/14 Dividend: 2/03/2025
• Ex-Dividend for 2/14 Dividend: 2/03/2025
• Dividend Payable: 2/14/2025
• Today: 4/09/2025
• Next Earnings (Estimated): 4/17/2025
• Fiscal Year End: 12/31/2025

Industry, Sector and Symbol

• Stock Exchange: NASDAQ
• Sector: Finance
• Industry: National commercial banks
• Sub-Industry: Regional Banks
• Current Symbol: NASDAQ:WABC
• CIK: 311094
• Web: www.westamerica.com
• Phone: (415) 257-8000
• Fax: 415-257-8013
• Employees: 590
• Year Founded: 1884

Price Target and Rating

• Average Stock Price Target: $57.00
• High Stock Price Target: $57.00
• Low Stock Price Target: $57.00
• Potential Upside/Downside: +28.5%
• Consensus Rating: Hold
• Rating Score (0-4): 2.00
• Research Coverage: 3 Analysts

Profitability

• EPS (Most Recent Fiscal Year): $5.20
• Trailing P/E Ratio: 8.51
• Forward P/E Ratio: 10.20
• P/E Growth: N/A
• Net Income: $138.64 million
• Net Margins: 44.55%
• Pretax Margin: 60.76%
• Return on Equity: 16.15%
• Return on Assets: 2.20%

Debt

• Debt-to-Equity Ratio: 0.15
• Current Ratio: 0.27
• Quick Ratio: 0.26

Sales & Book Value

• Annual Sales: $293.75 million
• Price / Sales: 4.03
• Cash Flow: $5.75 per share
• Price / Cash Flow: 7.71
• Book Value: $33.35 per share
• Price / Book: 1.33

Miscellaneous

• Outstanding Shares: 26,715,000
• Free Float: 25,512,000
• Market Cap: $1.18 billion
• Optionable: Optionable
• Beta: 0.63