Western Alliance Bancorporation $WAL Shares Sold by Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC

Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC reduced its position in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) by 38.5% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 11,419 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 7,139 shares during the period. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Western Alliance Bancorporation were worth $869,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Provenance Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation in the third quarter worth approximately $31,000. Hennessy Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Western Alliance Bancorporation during the third quarter valued at about $1,126,000. Vise Technologies Inc. increased its position in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 63.8% during the third quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 9,838 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $739,000 after acquiring an additional 3,832 shares during the period. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. raised its position in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation by 278.8% during the third quarter. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. now owns 9,471 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $711,000 after buying an additional 6,971 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC lifted its stake in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation by 12.2% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,154 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $162,000 after buying an additional 235 shares during the period. 79.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on WAL shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Western Alliance Bancorporation from $84.00 to $82.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Bank of America reduced their target price on Western Alliance Bancorporation from $91.00 to $87.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Mizuho set a $96.00 price target on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from $95.00 to $93.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 9th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from $98.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 22nd. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Western Alliance Bancorporation currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $92.44.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Stock Performance

WAL stock opened at $76.31 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $76.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $79.57. Western Alliance Bancorporation has a fifty-two week low of $65.82 and a fifty-two week high of $97.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.21 billion, a PE ratio of 8.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.43.

Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) last released its earnings results on Monday, October 19th. The financial services provider reported $2.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.43 by $0.02. Western Alliance Bancorporation had a net margin of 17.34% and a return on equity of 13.50%. The company had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $987.91 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.28 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Western Alliance Bancorporation will post 9.04 EPS for the current year.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. This is an increase from Western Alliance Bancorporation’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 12th. Western Alliance Bancorporation’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.56%.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Company Profile

Western Alliance Bancorporation is a bank holding company headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, and the parent of Western Alliance Bank. The company provides commercial banking and related financial services to businesses, business owners and individuals. Its services include business and commercial real estate lending, deposit accounts, treasury management, and specialized banking for industries such as technology, healthcare, and property management. Through its banking divisions and specialized business lines, Western Alliance serves clients across the western United States and beyond.