Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) Shares Gap Down After Analyst Downgrade

Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) gapped down prior to trading on Friday after Wedbush lowered their price target on the stock from $75.00 to $70.00. The stock had previously closed at $55.74, but opened at $54.19. Wedbush currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Western Alliance Bancorporation shares last traded at $56.06, with a volume of 366,924 shares traded.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 9th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from $72.00 to $68.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $78.00 price objective on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $71.36.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western Alliance Bancorporation

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Guggenheim Capital LLC increased its holdings in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 3.2% during the first quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 4,831 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $400,000 after buying an additional 151 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 57.4% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 502 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. Utah Retirement Systems grew its holdings in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 1.1% in the first quarter. Utah Retirement Systems now owns 18,511 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,534,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC grew its holdings in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC now owns 29,180 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,920,000 after purchasing an additional 211 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harbour Investments Inc. grew its holdings in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 33.8% in the second quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 931 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 235 shares during the last quarter. 79.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Stock Up 3.0 %

The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $59.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $56.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.33 billion, a PE ratio of 8.78 and a beta of 1.47.

Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The financial services provider reported $1.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.03. Western Alliance Bancorporation had a net margin of 16.74% and a return on equity of 16.33%. The business had revenue of $1.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $711.34 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.30 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Western Alliance Bancorporation will post 7.88 EPS for the current year.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 16th were issued a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. Western Alliance Bancorporation’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.