West Bancorporation, Inc. (WTBA) To Go Ex-Dividend on February 5th

West Bancorporation, Inc. (NASDAQ:WTBA) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, January 22nd,Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th will be given a dividend of 0.25 per share by the financial services provider on Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 5th.

West Bancorporation has increased its dividend by an average of 2.1% per year over the last three years. West Bancorporation has a dividend payout ratio of 45.5% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect West Bancorporation to earn $1.75 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 57.1%.

West Bancorporation Price Performance

WTBA traded up $0.23 on Friday, hitting $21.46. 27,458 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 24,657. The business’s fifty day moving average is $22.45 and its 200 day moving average is $20.82. West Bancorporation has a fifty-two week low of $15.80 and a fifty-two week high of $24.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $361.17 million, a P/E ratio of 16.77 and a beta of 0.98.

West Bancorporation (NASDAQ:WTBA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.02. West Bancorporation had a return on equity of 9.46% and a net margin of 11.17%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.27 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that West Bancorporation will post 1.4 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at West Bancorporation

In other news, Director Douglas R. Gulling sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.61, for a total transaction of $94,440.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 80,709 shares in the company, valued at $1,905,539.49. This trade represents a 4.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 4.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on WTBA. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of West Bancorporation from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. StockNews.com raised West Bancorporation from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th.

About West Bancorporation

West Bancorporation, Inc operates as the financial holding company provides community banking and trust services to individuals and small- to medium-sized businesses in the United States. It offers deposit services, including checking, savings, and money market accounts, as well as time certificates of deposit.