West Bancorporation (NASDAQ:WTBA) Stock Crosses Above 200-Day Moving Average – Here’s What Happened

West Bancorporation, Inc. (NASDAQ:WTBA)’s share price passed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $22.05 and traded as high as $24.67. West Bancorporation shares last traded at $24.45, with a volume of 66,023 shares traded.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on WTBA. Zacks Research upgraded West Bancorporation from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of West Bancorporation from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $24.00.

West Bancorporation Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $414.18 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.80 and a beta of 0.84. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $23.89 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $22.05.

West Bancorporation (NASDAQ:WTBA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $27.34 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $26.70 million. West Bancorporation had a return on equity of 14.28% and a net margin of 16.08%. As a group, analysts expect that West Bancorporation, Inc. will post 1.65 EPS for the current year.

West Bancorporation Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 11th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 11th. West Bancorporation’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.36%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On West Bancorporation

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of West Bancorporation by 4.5% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 875,719 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $17,795,000 after acquiring an additional 37,502 shares in the last quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in West Bancorporation by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 404,427 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,974,000 after purchasing an additional 1,763 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in West Bancorporation by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 354,382 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,864,000 after purchasing an additional 1,454 shares in the last quarter. Rhino Investment Partners Inc purchased a new position in shares of West Bancorporation in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,918,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew 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 buying 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.