West Bancorporation Inc. in West Des Moines ranks No. 19 in an annual listing of the top 200 publicly traded bank holding companies in the nation with assets of less than $2 billion.

The West Des Moines-based parent of West Bank is joined by Two Rivers Financial Group of Burlington, at No. 66, and Iowa First Bancshares Corp. of Muscatine, which ranked No. 97 on the list compiled by American Banker.

American Banker takes a look at 750 banks that meet its criteria and ranks them based on average return on equity over three years. American Banker said the top 200 banks are spending money to make money.

“Noninterest expenses for these 200 best performers actually increased a median of 3.46 percent last year, or 55 basis points more than for the larger peer group. But they booked more loans than their peers (net loans grew a median of 7.8 percent), and did so at comparatively higher interest rates, said Kevin Halsey, a senior analyst at Capital Performance Group, which conducted the analysis for American Banker. “The yield on average earning assets for the top 200 was a median of 4.22 percent last year, compared with 4.10 percent for the peer group, the analysis showed. As a result their median revenue growth also was higher, at 3.58 percent.”

West Bancorporation has been piling up accolades from analysts and trade publications for several years, much to the delight of President and CEO Dave Nelson, who sent this email to his staff:

“Many banks are focused on cutting expenses and waiting for outside forces such as the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates, and thus their revenue. However, the best banks are good at generating more business, making more loans and bringing on more customers. I’m proud that we are making our own success … and doing it better than many of the best.”  

To the Business Record, he said, “It is fun to be part of something special.”

According to American Banker, West Bancorporation’s return on equity has averaged nearly 13.6 percent over the last three years. In 2014, it reported noninterest income of $9 million and net income of $20 million, with assets of $1.6 billion and a market value of $316 million.

West Bancorp also has received best-bank kudos in recent years from analysts Sandler O’Neill + Partners LP and Raymond James Financial Inc.