Westamerica Bancorporation (NASDAQ:WABC) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.44

Westamerica Bancorporation (NASDAQ:WABC) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, October 24th, Zacks reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 4th will be paid a dividend of 0.44 per share by the financial services provider on Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.42%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 4th.

Westamerica Bancorporation has raised its dividend by an average of 1.6% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 32 years. Westamerica Bancorporation has a payout ratio of 40.1% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Westamerica Bancorporation to earn $4.40 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.76 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 40.0%.

Westamerica Bancorporation Stock Performance

Shares of Westamerica Bancorporation stock opened at $51.50 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 0.26 and a quick ratio of 0.25. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $50.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $49.61. Westamerica Bancorporation has a fifty-two week low of $43.82 and a fifty-two week high of $58.49. The firm has a market cap of $1.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.38 and a beta of 0.54.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on WABC shares. StockNews.com upgraded Westamerica Bancorporation from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Piper Sandler boosted 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. Finally, Maxim Group lowered shares of Westamerica Bancorporation from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $57.00.

About Westamerica Bancorporation

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.