West Bancorporation (NASDAQ:WTBA) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of West Bancorporation (NASDAQ:WTBA) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Saturday.

Several other research firms also recently issued reports on WTBA. Zacks Research downgraded West Bancorporation from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Weiss Ratings upgraded West Bancorporation from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Hovde Group assumed coverage on West Bancorporation in a research note on Monday, April 6th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $25.50 price target for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $24.75.

West Bancorporation Stock Performance

Shares of WTBA stock opened at $24.36 on Friday. West Bancorporation has a 1-year low of $17.31 and a 1-year high of $26.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39. The company has a market capitalization of $414.85 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.83 and a beta of 0.82. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $24.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $23.08.

West Bancorporation (NASDAQ:WTBA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $27.01 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $28.30 million. West Bancorporation had a return on equity of 14.88% and a net margin of 17.30%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that West Bancorporation will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

West Bancorporation Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 6th will be given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 6th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.1%. West Bancorporation’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.54%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of WTBA. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of West Bancorporation by 4.5% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 875,719 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $17,795,000 after purchasing an additional 37,502 shares in the last quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of West Bancorporation by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 404,427 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,974,000 after purchasing an additional 1,763 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of West Bancorporation by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 354,382 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,864,000 after purchasing an additional 1,454 shares in the last quarter. Rhino Investment Partners Inc acquired a new stake in shares of West Bancorporation during the third quarter worth about $1,918,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in shares of West Bancorporation by 14.5% during the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 58,655 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,192,000 after purchasing an additional 7,428 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 44.30% of the company’s stock.

West Bancorporation Company Profile

West Bancorporation, Inc is the bank holding company for West Town Bank and Trust, a full-service community bank headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Through its subsidiary, the company offers a comprehensive suite of commercial and consumer banking products, including deposit accounts, residential and commercial mortgages, business loans and treasury management services. West Bancorporation focuses on delivering personalized financial solutions to small- and medium-sized businesses, real estate developers and individual customers within its urban market.

Since launching operations in 2006, West Town Bank and Trust has steadily expanded its presence across the Chicago metropolitan area.