Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) Stock Price Down 6.6% – What’s Next?

Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) shares dropped 6.6% on Monday . The company traded as low as $76.60 and last traded at $76.4750. Approximately 678,705 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 46% from the average daily volume of 1,267,646 shares. The stock had previously closed at $81.90.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WAL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from $90.00 to $88.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation in a research note on Friday, March 6th. National Alliance Securities reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from $93.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Western Alliance Bancorporation has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $92.93.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Stock Down 3.4%

The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.72, a P/E/G ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.37. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $74.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $81.76.

Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The financial services provider reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.74. Western Alliance Bancorporation had a net margin of 17.03% and a return on equity of 13.58%. The firm had revenue of $968.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $944.18 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.79 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 31.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Western Alliance Bancorporation will post 9.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 14th will be given a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 14th. Western Alliance Bancorporation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.56%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of WAL. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC lifted its position in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation by 36.5% in the 3rd quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 5,979,916 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $518,578,000 after buying an additional 1,599,537 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation in the 4th quarter worth about $125,482,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation by 9.8% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,746,867 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $735,350,000 after buying an additional 777,369 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation by 2,331.6% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 485,508 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,817,000 after buying an additional 465,541 shares during the last quarter. Finally, M&T Bank Corp lifted its position in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation by 7,920.9% in the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 315,624 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,535,000 after buying an additional 311,689 shares during the last quarter. 79.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Company Profile

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.