Cetera Investment Advisers Boosts Stock Holdings in Western Alliance Bancorporation $WAL

Cetera Investment Advisers grew its holdings in Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) by 27.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,304 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,364 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers’ holdings in Western Alliance Bancorporation were worth $484,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,968,526 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $498,612,000 after purchasing an additional 154,575 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings 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. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 23.5% during the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,341,553 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $195,616,000 after purchasing an additional 445,176 shares in the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. grew its holdings in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 1,909,003 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $146,668,000 after purchasing an additional 25,260 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC grew its holdings in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 55.7% during the 4th quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 1,814,745 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $151,604,000 after purchasing an additional 648,983 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.15% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Alliance Bancorporation

In related news, insider Tim R. Bruckner sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.91, for a total transaction of $209,775.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 24,759 shares in the company, valued at $2,077,527.69. This represents a 9.17% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 2.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on WAL. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. They set a “buy” rating and a $95.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from $91.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from $105.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from $90.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $96.62.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Stock Performance

Shares of WAL opened at $82.59 on Monday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $79.40 and its 200 day moving average price is $77.32. Western Alliance Bancorporation has a 52 week low of $57.05 and a 52 week high of $98.10. The company has a market capitalization of $9.12 billion, a PE ratio of 10.85, a PEG ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.86.

Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The financial services provider reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.04 by $0.03. Western Alliance Bancorporation had a net margin of 16.39% and a return on equity of 12.62%. The company had revenue of $836.21 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $838.58 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.75 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Western Alliance Bancorporation will post 9.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 14th will be paid a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 14th. Western Alliance Bancorporation’s payout ratio is presently 19.97%.

Western Alliance Bancorporation 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.