Analysts Set Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) Target Price at $92.93

Shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) have been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the fourteen research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $92.9286.

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $105.00 target price on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $83.00 to $79.00 in a research note on Monday, March 9th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from $94.00 to $92.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from $105.00 to $77.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from $103.00 to $96.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Stock Performance

Shares of WAL stock opened at $78.70 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $8.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.16, a P/E/G ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.86. Western Alliance Bancorporation has a 52 week low of $65.82 and a 52 week high of $97.23. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $75.04 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $81.71.

Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The financial services provider reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.74. The business had revenue of $968.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $944.18 million. Western Alliance Bancorporation had a net margin of 17.03% and a return on equity of 13.58%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 31.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.79 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Western Alliance Bancorporation will post 9.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 14th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. Western Alliance Bancorporation’s payout ratio is currently 19.56%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western Alliance Bancorporation

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WAL. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC grew its stake in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 36.5% during the third quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 5,979,916 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $518,578,000 after acquiring an additional 1,599,537 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Western Alliance Bancorporation during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $125,482,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,746,867 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $735,350,000 after acquiring an additional 777,369 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 2,331.6% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 485,508 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,817,000 after acquiring an additional 465,541 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M&T Bank Corp grew its stake in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 7,920.9% during the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 315,624 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,535,000 after acquiring an additional 311,689 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.15% of the company’s stock.

About Western Alliance Bancorporation

Western Alliance Bancorporation is a bank holding company headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona. Through its principal subsidiary, Western Alliance Bank, the company provides a range of banking services to commercial clients, entrepreneurs and real estate developers. As one of the largest regional banks in the western United States, it focuses on relationship-driven banking solutions tailored to niche industries and growing businesses.

The company’s core offerings include deposit products, treasury management and a variety of lending services.