Insider Selling: West Bancorporation (NASDAQ:WTBA) Director Sells $193,472.95 in Stock

West Bancorporation, Inc. (NASDAQ:WTBA) Director Steven Gaer sold 6,215 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.13, for a total value of $193,472.95. Following the transaction, the director owned 19,236 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $598,816.68. This represents a 24.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

West Bancorporation Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WTBA opened at $30.53 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $29.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $26.31. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The company has a market capitalization of $520.23 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.99 and a beta of 0.70. West Bancorporation, Inc. has a 12-month low of $20.89 and a 12-month high of $31.85.

West Bancorporation (NASDAQ:WTBA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67. The company had revenue of $29.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $28.95 million. West Bancorporation had a net margin of 19.83% and a return on equity of 16.09%. Sell-side analysts expect that West Bancorporation, Inc. will post 2.61 EPS for the current year.

West Bancorporation Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 25th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 11th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 10th. West Bancorporation’s payout ratio is 44.26%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on WTBA shares. Hovde Group upped their price objective on shares of West Bancorporation from $25.50 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of West Bancorporation from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a report on Thursday, October 8th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on West Bancorporation from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut West Bancorporation from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $29.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WTBA. State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its holdings in West Bancorporation by 83.5% in the third quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 1,411 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 642 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in West Bancorporation by 4.2% during the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 11,186 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $297,000 after purchasing an additional 448 shares in the last quarter. Independent Wealth Network Inc. increased its holdings in West Bancorporation by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Independent Wealth Network Inc. now owns 15,260 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $435,000 after purchasing an additional 465 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its holdings in West Bancorporation by 28.8% during the 1st quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 34,480 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $820,000 after purchasing an additional 7,702 shares during the period. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC raised its position in West Bancorporation by 332.0% in the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 36,548 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $970,000 after purchasing an additional 28,087 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 (NASDAQ: WTBA) is a bank holding company headquartered in West Des Moines, Iowa. It operates primarily through West Bank, a community banking institution that provides financial services to businesses, individuals and nonprofit organizations.

West Bank offers commercial and consumer lending, including commercial real estate, business, residential real estate and personal loans. Its deposit products include checking, savings, money market and certificate of deposit accounts, while additional services include treasury management, online and mobile banking, cash management and trust or wealth management services.

Founded in 1893, West Bank serves communities primarily in central and eastern Iowa, with a presence in the Des Moines metropolitan area and other Iowa markets.