Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and twelve have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $97.7857.

Several research firms have recently commented on WAL. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from $94.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from $96.00 to $93.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st.

Insider Transactions at Western Alliance Bancorporation

In related news, insider Tim R. Bruckner sold 2,500 shares of the business’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. The trade was a 9.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 2.75% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 6.2% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,317 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $181,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI increased its holdings in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 22.7% in the first quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 763 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $59,000 after buying an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. EJF Capital LLC increased its holdings in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 2.5% in the second quarter. EJF Capital LLC now owns 6,223 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $485,000 after buying an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. now owns 26,646 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,226,000 after buying an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,087 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $258,000 after buying an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. 79.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Price Performance

NYSE WAL opened at $88.34 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $83.72 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $77.26. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. Western Alliance Bancorporation has a 12-month low of $57.05 and a 12-month high of $98.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.61, a P/E/G ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 1.39.

Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The financial services provider reported $2.07 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $836.21 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $838.58 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.75 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Western Alliance Bancorporation will post 9.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 14th were given a dividend of $0.38 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 14th. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. Western Alliance Bancorporation’s payout ratio is currently 19.97%.

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.