Short Interest in Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) Decreases By 22.2%

Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) saw a large drop in short interest in the month of March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 3,688,093 shares, a drop of 22.2% from the February 26th total of 4,739,356 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,312,505 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.6 days. Approximately 3.5% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on WAL shares. Weiss Ratings lowered Western Alliance Bancorporation from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. National Alliance Securities reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation in a report on Friday, March 6th. TD Cowen cut Western Alliance Bancorporation from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $83.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday, March 9th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Western Alliance Bancorporation from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $83.00 to $79.00 in a report on Monday, March 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $105.00 price target (up from $100.00) on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Western Alliance Bancorporation has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $97.73.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 1.6% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,674,518 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $318,655,000 after purchasing an additional 58,535 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 2,394,722 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $207,670,000 after buying an additional 81,386 shares during the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation by 14.5% in the 3rd quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 215,419 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $18,681,000 after buying an additional 27,329 shares in the last quarter. MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation by 42.4% in the 3rd quarter. MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. now owns 36,559 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,170,000 after buying an additional 10,887 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 568.0% during the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 17,355 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,505,000 after acquiring an additional 14,757 shares in the last quarter. 79.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Trading Down 3.5%

Shares of NYSE:WAL opened at $67.70 on Friday. Western Alliance Bancorporation has a 52 week low of $57.05 and a 52 week high of $97.23. The company’s 50 day moving average is $83.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $83.26. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The company has a market cap of $7.44 billion, a PE ratio of 7.76, a P/E/G ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.34.

Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $2.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.40 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $890.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $912.69 million. Western Alliance Bancorporation had a net margin of 18.04% and a return on equity of 13.33%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.95 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Western Alliance Bancorporation will post 9.05 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 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 20th were issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 20th. Western Alliance Bancorporation’s payout ratio is 19.24%.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Company Profile

Western Alliance Bancorporation is a bank holding company headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona. Through its principal subsidiary, Western Alliance Bank, the company provides a range of banking services to commercial clients, entrepreneurs and real estate developers. As one of the largest regional banks in the western United States, it focuses on relationship-driven banking solutions tailored to niche industries and growing businesses.

The company’s core offerings include deposit products, treasury management and a variety of lending services.