West Bancorporation (NASDAQ:WTBA) Stock Price Passes Below 200 Day Moving Average – Time to Sell?

Shares of West Bancorporation, Inc. (NASDAQ:WTBA) passed below its 200-day moving average during trading on Wednesday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $23.58 and traded as low as $23.19. West Bancorporation shares last traded at $23.23, with a volume of 42,139 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on WTBA. Hovde Group began coverage on shares of West Bancorporation in a research note on Monday, April 6th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $25.50 price target on the stock. Zacks Research cut shares of West Bancorporation from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of West Bancorporation from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 25th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of West Bancorporation from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, West Bancorporation presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $24.75.

West Bancorporation Stock Down 3.1%

The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $23.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $23.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 0.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $395.61 million, a PE ratio of 11.28 and a beta of 0.74.

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

West Bancorporation Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 6th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 6th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.3%. West Bancorporation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.54%.

Institutional Trading of West Bancorporation

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WTBA. Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in shares of West Bancorporation by 7.5% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 38,547 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $769,000 after buying an additional 2,675 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of West Bancorporation during the 1st quarter valued at $464,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of West Bancorporation by 27.9% during the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 17,436 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $346,000 after buying an additional 3,799 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of West Bancorporation during the 2nd quarter valued at $212,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership purchased a new stake in shares of West Bancorporation during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,006,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 44.30% of the company’s stock.

About West Bancorporation

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.