WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) & Westamerica Bancorporation (NASDAQ:WABC) Head-To-Head Comparison

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) and Westamerica Bancorporation (NASDAQ:WABC) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, dividends, profitability, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, risk and valuation.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

83.7% of WaFd shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 81.9% of Westamerica Bancorporation shares are held by institutional investors. 1.5% of WaFd shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 5.5% of Westamerica Bancorporation shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for WaFd and Westamerica Bancorporation, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
WaFd	0	4	0	0	2.00
Westamerica Bancorporation	0	3	0	0	2.00

WaFd presently has a consensus price target of $33.75, suggesting a potential upside of 9.97%. Westamerica Bancorporation has a consensus price target of $57.00, suggesting a potential upside of 12.07%. Given Westamerica Bancorporation’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Westamerica Bancorporation is more favorable than WaFd.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares WaFd and Westamerica Bancorporation”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
WaFd	$1.43 billion	1.75	$200.04 million	$2.17	14.14
Westamerica Bancorporation	$293.75 million	4.62	$138.64 million	$5.20	9.78

WaFd has higher revenue and earnings than Westamerica Bancorporation. Westamerica Bancorporation is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than WaFd, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Dividends

WaFd pays an annual dividend of $1.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.4%. Westamerica Bancorporation pays an annual dividend of $1.76 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.5%. WaFd pays out 47.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Westamerica Bancorporation pays out 33.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Westamerica Bancorporation has raised its dividend for 15 consecutive years. Westamerica Bancorporation is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Volatility and Risk

WaFd has a beta of 0.85, indicating that its share price is 15% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Westamerica Bancorporation has a beta of 0.57, indicating that its share price is 43% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares WaFd and Westamerica Bancorporation’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
WaFd	12.66%	8.78%	0.82%
Westamerica Bancorporation	44.55%	16.15%	2.20%

Summary

Westamerica Bancorporation beats WaFd on 10 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About WaFd

WaFd, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Washington Federal Bank that provides lending, depository, insurance, and other banking services in the United States. The company offers deposit products, including business and personal checking accounts, and term certificates of deposit, as well as money market accounts and passbook savings accounts. It also provides single-family dwellings, construction, land acquisition and development, consumer lot, multi-family residential, commercial real estate, home equity, business, and consumer loans, as well as commercial and industrial loans. In addition, the company offers insurance brokerage services, such as individual and business insurance policies; holds and markets real estate properties; and debit and credit cards, as well as acts as the trustee. It serves consumers, mid-sized and large businesses, and owners and developers of commercial real estate. The company was formerly known as Washington Federal, Inc. and changed its name to WaFd, Inc in September 2023. WaFd, Inc was founded in 1917 and is headquartered in Seattle, Washington.

About Westamerica Bancorporation

Westamerica Bancorporation operates as a bank holding company for the Westamerica Bank that provides various banking products and services to individual and commercial customers. The company accepts various deposit products, including retail savings and checking accounts, as well as certificates of deposit. Its loan portfolio includes commercial, commercial and residential real estate, real estate construction, and consumer installment loans, as well as indirect automobile loans. The company was formerly known as Independent Bankshares Corporation and changed its name to Westamerica Bancorporation in 1983. The company was founded in 1884 and is headquartered in San Rafael, California.