Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) Upgraded at Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating in a research note released on Monday, Marketbeat reports. They currently have $79.00 price objective on the financial services provider’s stock, down from their prior price objective of $83.00.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Truist Financial set a $98.00 target price on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from $104.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from $104.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, National Alliance Securities restated a “buy” rating on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $99.40.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Price Performance

Western Alliance Bancorporation stock opened at $69.61 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $7.65 billion, a PE ratio of 7.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $87.81 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $85.02. Western Alliance Bancorporation has a one year low of $57.05 and a one year high of $97.23.

Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $2.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.40 by $0.19. Western Alliance Bancorporation had a return on equity of 13.33% and a net margin of 18.04%.The firm had revenue of $890.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $912.69 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.95 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Western Alliance Bancorporation will post 9.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 6th. Investors of record on Friday, February 20th were issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 20th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Western Alliance Bancorporation’s payout ratio is 19.24%.

Institutional Trading of Western Alliance Bancorporation

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation during the second quarter worth $137,289,000. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC grew its position in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 36.5% during 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 acquiring an additional 1,599,537 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 777,369 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 2,331.6% in 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 purchasing an additional 465,541 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Perpetual Ltd bought a new position in Western Alliance Bancorporation in the third quarter valued at about $31,072,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.15% of the company’s stock.

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.