Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) Cut to “Sell” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report published on Monday morning.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on WAL. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $92.00 price objective on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from $115.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from $107.00 to $97.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. DA Davidson dropped their target price on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from $106.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from $95.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Western Alliance Bancorporation has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $96.38.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Trading Up 0.3%

NYSE:WAL opened at $79.90 on Monday. Western Alliance Bancorporation has a one year low of $56.70 and a one year high of $98.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.85. The firm has a market cap of $8.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.25, a P/E/G ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 1.30. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $71.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $82.21.

Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.79 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.78 by $0.01. Western Alliance Bancorporation had a net margin of 15.49% and a return on equity of 13.14%. The business had revenue of $790.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $792.25 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.72 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Western Alliance Bancorporation will post 9.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Western Alliance Bancorporation’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.85%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western Alliance Bancorporation

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in WAL. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 5.9% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,076,021 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $466,821,000 after acquiring an additional 339,758 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,968,526 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $498,612,000 after acquiring an additional 154,575 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 0.8% during the first quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,604,755 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $276,954,000 after acquiring an additional 26,995 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 23.5% during the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,341,553 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $195,616,000 after acquiring an additional 445,176 shares during the period. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. raised its position in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 1.3% during the first quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 1,909,003 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $146,668,000 after acquiring an additional 25,260 shares during the period. 79.15% of the stock is currently 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.