Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) Stock Position Lifted by Jennison Associates LLC

Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) by 111.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,184,458 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 624,957 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC owned about 1.08% of Western Alliance Bancorporation worth $77,925,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its position in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 422.2% during the third quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 940 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 760 shares in the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new position in Western Alliance Bancorporation during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $65,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new position in Western Alliance Bancorporation during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $93,000. Busey Bank purchased a new position in Western Alliance Bancorporation during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $202,000. Finally, Buckley Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Western Alliance Bancorporation during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $207,000. 79.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on WAL. Hovde Group assumed coverage on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation in a research report on Monday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $75.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation in a research report on Friday, March 8th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $91.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price 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. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 9th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from $79.00 to $74.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Western Alliance Bancorporation has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $70.88.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Price Performance

NYSE:WAL opened at $58.71 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $6.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.56 and a beta of 1.47. Western Alliance Bancorporation has a one year low of $11.35 and a one year high of $70.23. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $59.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $56.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.93.

Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The financial services provider reported $1.72 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $711.34 million. Western Alliance Bancorporation had a net margin of 16.50% and a return on equity of 14.99%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.30 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Western Alliance Bancorporation will post 7.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 16th were paid a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. Western Alliance Bancorporation’s dividend payout ratio is 21.57%.

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.