BANKING/FINANCE

Sharing the Wealth: Executives at Westcorp Inc., the holding company for Western Financial Savings Bank, want more people to invest in their company. So they are giving shareholders 5% more stock this week.

They hope that shareholders in the Irvine company will sell their 5% stock dividend to new investors on the open market, stimulating more active trading and, hopefully, boosting the stock’s price.

The task won’t be so easy though.

Ernest S. Rady, Westcorp’s chairman, has a 67.9% stake in the company. Other directors and officers own another 4.6%, while institutional investors own most of the rest. That doesn’t leave much for individual investors, who like to see a majority of the stock in public hands.

Shareholders of record on Friday will receive the stock dividend. In addition, shareholders of record on Thursday will be paid a quarterly cash dividend of 4 cents a share, up from the usual 3 cents a share.