Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) Earns Overweight Rating from Stephens

Stephens restated their overweight rating on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) in a research report report published on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $82.00 target price on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on WAL. DA Davidson reissued a buy rating and issued a $85.00 price target on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Western Alliance Bancorporation from $72.00 to $68.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. StockNews.com lowered Western Alliance Bancorporation from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report on Saturday, March 9th. Wedbush decreased their price objective on Western Alliance Bancorporation from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Western Alliance Bancorporation from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $71.36.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Trading Up 3.0 %

Shares of WAL opened at $57.42 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $59.50 and its 200 day moving average price is $56.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.37 and a beta of 1.47. Western Alliance Bancorporation has a 1-year low of $11.35 and a 1-year high of $70.23. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40.

Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The financial services provider reported $1.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $711.34 million. Western Alliance Bancorporation had a return on equity of 14.99% and a net margin of 16.50%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.30 EPS. Analysts expect that Western Alliance Bancorporation will post 7.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 16th were issued a $0.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 15th. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.58%. Western Alliance Bancorporation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.57%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Alliance Bancorporation

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,022,268 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $460,724,000 after purchasing an additional 74,824 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,058,243 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $360,829,000 after purchasing an additional 402,614 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. lifted its holdings in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 12.5% in the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 5,410,343 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $197,315,000 after purchasing an additional 601,129 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 21.5% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,971,314 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $411,724,000 after purchasing an additional 880,430 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 44.4% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,056,477 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $144,167,000 after purchasing an additional 1,246,855 shares during the last quarter. 79.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Western Alliance Bancorporation

Western Alliance Bancorporation operates as the bank holding company for Western Alliance Bank that provides various banking products and related services primarily in Arizona, California, and Nevada. It operates through Commercial and Consumer Related segments. The company offers deposit products, including checking, savings, and money market accounts, as well as fixed-rate and fixed maturity certificates of deposit accounts; demand deposits; and treasury management and residential mortgage products and services.