Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) Reaches New 12-Month High at $70.69

Shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $70.69 and last traded at $70.05, with a volume of 769275 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $67.31.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on WAL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. DA Davidson dropped their price target on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from $85.00 to $78.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 29th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from $70.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from $91.00 to $86.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Western Alliance Bancorporation has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $75.29.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Stock Down 0.5 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $8.07 billion, a PE ratio of 10.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.46. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $62.46 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $61.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21.

Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The financial services provider reported $1.72 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $711.34 million. Western Alliance Bancorporation had a net margin of 16.50% and a return on equity of 14.77%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.30 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Western Alliance Bancorporation will post 7.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 16th were paid a $0.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.02%. Western Alliance Bancorporation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.57%.

Insider Activity at Western Alliance Bancorporation

In related news, CAO J. Kelly Jr. Ardrey sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.20, for a total value of $64,200.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,636 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $361,831.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 2.75% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Western Alliance Bancorporation

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation by 3.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,440,410 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $670,170,000 after purchasing an additional 395,101 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation by 16.3% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,112,376 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $328,165,000 after purchasing an additional 717,242 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation by 50.7% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,452,203 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $161,339,000 after acquiring an additional 824,636 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation by 103.2% in the 4th quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 1,725,328 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $113,510,000 after acquiring an additional 876,413 shares during the period. Finally, Hood River Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation by 5.9% in the 1st quarter. Hood River Capital Management LLC now owns 1,641,660 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $105,378,000 after acquiring an additional 91,535 shares during the period. 79.15% of the stock is 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.