Wedbush Cuts Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) Price Target to $70.00

Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) had its price objective reduced by research analysts at Wedbush from $75.00 to $70.00 in a report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Wedbush’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 25.49% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research firms have also commented on WAL. StockNews.com lowered shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from $72.00 to $68.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $67.60.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Stock Performance

NYSE WAL opened at $55.78 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $59.58 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $56.32. Western Alliance Bancorporation has a 1 year low of $11.35 and a 1 year high of $70.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.53 and a beta of 1.47.

Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 19th. The financial services provider reported $1.72 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.30 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Western Alliance Bancorporation will post 7.88 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WAL. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,022,268 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $460,724,000 after purchasing an additional 74,824 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,058,243 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $360,829,000 after purchasing an additional 402,614 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. raised its position in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 12.5% in the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 5,410,343 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $197,315,000 after purchasing an additional 601,129 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 21.5% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,971,314 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $411,724,000 after purchasing an additional 880,430 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp raised its position in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 44.4% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,056,477 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $144,167,000 after purchasing an additional 1,246,855 shares during the last quarter. 79.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.