Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) Shares Gap Down to $49.34

Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL – Get Rating) shares gapped down prior to trading on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $49.34, but opened at $12.89. Western Alliance Bancorporation shares last traded at $9.57, with a volume of 12,740,970 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from $90.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from $89.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 13th. Wedbush reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $80.00 price objective on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation in a research note on Monday. Stephens increased their price objective on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from $80.00 to $86.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 26th. Finally, TheStreet raised shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $84.88.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $3.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.08, a PEG ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 1.44. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $68.91 and its 200-day simple moving average is $67.59. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42.

Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 25th. The financial services provider reported $2.67 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.67. The business had revenue of $701.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $733.13 million. Western Alliance Bancorporation had a net margin of 34.94% and a return on equity of 22.00%. The company’s revenue was up 25.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.32 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Western Alliance Bancorporation will post 10.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 17th were issued a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 16th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.82%. Western Alliance Bancorporation’s payout ratio is currently 14.85%.

Insider Transactions at Western Alliance Bancorporation

In related news, insider Tim R. Bruckner sold 1,750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.16, for a total value of $128,030.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 20,244 shares in the company, valued at $1,481,051.04. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 2.57% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Western Alliance Bancorporation

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation by 5.9% during the second quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 14,481,293 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,022,379,000 after buying an additional 808,692 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 3.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,361,098 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $775,286,000 after purchasing an additional 347,525 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,058,243 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $360,829,000 after purchasing an additional 402,614 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation by 21.5% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,971,314 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $411,724,000 after acquiring an additional 880,430 shares during the period. Finally, BlackRock Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation by 0.8% during the third quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 4,512,815 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $296,673,000 after acquiring an additional 34,763 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.68% of the company’s stock.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Company Profile

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Western Alliance Bancorp is a bank holding company, which engages in the provision of deposit, lending, treasury management, international banking, and online banking products and services. It operates through the following business segments: Commercial, Consumer Related, and Corporate and Other. The Commercial segment focuses on delivering commercial banking and treasury management products and services to small and middle-market businesses, specialized banking services to sophisticated commercial institutions and investors within niche industries, as well as financial services to the real estate industry.