Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $98.07.

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $103.00 target price on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Western Alliance Bancorporation from $102.00 to $95.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from $105.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Western Alliance Bancorporation from $110.00 to $105.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, UBS Group initiated coverage on Western Alliance Bancorporation in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $115.00 price target on the stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WAL. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 2.7% in the 4th 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 buying an additional 154,575 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,736,263 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $479,207,000 after acquiring an additional 278,041 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 46.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,488,345 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $388,197,000 after purchasing an additional 1,418,472 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,577,760 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $298,887,000 after purchasing an additional 22,942 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC increased its holdings in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 93.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,793,014 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $241,568,000 after purchasing an additional 1,347,921 shares during the last quarter. 79.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation stock opened at $86.08 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $86.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $86.03. The stock has a market cap of $9.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.12, a PEG ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 1.46. Western Alliance Bancorporation has a 12-month low of $53.75 and a 12-month high of $98.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) last announced its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.92 by $0.03. Western Alliance Bancorporation had a net margin of 15.49% and a return on equity of 13.14%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Western Alliance Bancorporation will post 9.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.38 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.77%. Western Alliance Bancorporation’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.41%.

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.