Nisa Investment Advisors LLC Purchases 3,480 Shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL)

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) by 42.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 11,754 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,480 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Western Alliance Bancorporation were worth $773,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of WAL. Harbour Investments Inc. lifted its position in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation by 400.7% during the 1st quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 696 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 557 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. State of Wyoming lifted its position in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation by 54.7% during the 2nd quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 783 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 277 shares during the period. Advisory Services Network LLC raised its position in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 118.2% in the 1st quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 993 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 538 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC bought a new position in Western Alliance Bancorporation in the 3rd quarter valued at $43,000. Institutional investors own 79.15% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on WAL. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Western Alliance Bancorporation from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $78.00 price objective on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Western Alliance Bancorporation from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 8th. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $85.00 price objective on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, StockNews.com cut Western Alliance Bancorporation from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $66.60.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Stock Performance

Shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation stock opened at $55.25 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $6.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.45 and a beta of 1.47. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $59.69 and its 200-day moving average is $56.33. Western Alliance Bancorporation has a one year low of $11.35 and a one year high of $70.23. 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, January 26th. The financial services provider reported $1.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.93 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $1.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $705.97 million. Western Alliance Bancorporation had a return on equity of 16.33% and a net margin of 16.74%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.67 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Western Alliance Bancorporation will post 7.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 2.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. Western Alliance Bancorporation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.63%.

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.