Duality Advisers LP Makes New $983,000 Investment in Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL)

Duality Advisers LP purchased a new stake in Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 14,944 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $983,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Riverwater Partners LLC boosted its stake in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC now owns 29,180 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,920,000 after acquiring an additional 211 shares in the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina boosted its position in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 47,472 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,182,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System increased its position in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 29,619 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,362,000 after buying an additional 370 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 5.5% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 8,492 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $390,000 after acquiring an additional 443 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its stake in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation by 0.4% during the third quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 108,840 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,003,000 after acquiring an additional 471 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.15% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from $78.00 to $76.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from $79.00 to $74.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. DA Davidson dropped their price objective on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from $85.00 to $78.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. StockNews.com lowered Western Alliance Bancorporation from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 9th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on Western Alliance Bancorporation from $91.00 to $86.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $70.56.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Price Performance

NYSE:WAL opened at $59.81 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $59.43 and a 200-day moving average price of $56.82. Western Alliance Bancorporation has a 1-year low of $11.35 and a 1-year high of $70.23. The firm has a market cap of $6.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.72 and a beta of 1.47.

Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The financial services provider reported $1.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 posted $2.30 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Western Alliance Bancorporation will post 7.83 EPS for the current year.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 16th were given a dividend of $0.37 per share. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.47%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 15th. Western Alliance Bancorporation’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.57%.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Company Profile

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.