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

Westamerica Bancorporation (NASDAQ:WABC) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, January 23rd,RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be paid a dividend of 0.44 per share by the financial services provider on Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.42%.

Westamerica Bancorporation has raised its dividend payment by an average of 2.2% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 15 consecutive years. Westamerica Bancorporation has a dividend payout ratio of 43.5% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Westamerica Bancorporation to earn $3.95 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 44.6%.

Westamerica Bancorporation Stock Performance

Westamerica Bancorporation stock opened at $51.44 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.89 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $54.04 and a 200-day moving average of $52.23. Westamerica Bancorporation has a 52 week low of $43.82 and a 52 week high of $59.97.

Westamerica Bancorporation (NASDAQ:WABC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.19. Westamerica Bancorporation had a return on equity of 16.15% and a net margin of 44.55%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.48 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Westamerica Bancorporation will post 4.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded Westamerica Bancorporation from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th.

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.