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

Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL)’s share price gapped down before the market opened 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 trading hands.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on WAL. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation in a research report on Friday, March 8th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $91.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, March 9th. Wells Fargo & Company cut 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 report on Wednesday, April 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut 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 report on Monday, April 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Western Alliance Bancorporation currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $67.60.

Institutional Trading of Western Alliance Bancorporation

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WAL. Harbour Investments Inc. raised its position in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 400.7% in the 1st quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 696 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 557 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC bought a new stake in Western Alliance Bancorporation in the 1st quarter worth $27,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Western Alliance Bancorporation in the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. State of Wyoming grew its holdings in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 54.7% in the 2nd quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 783 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 277 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 57.4% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 502 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.15% of the company’s stock.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $6.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.53 and a beta of 1.47. 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 business’s fifty day simple moving average is $59.58 and its 200-day simple moving average is $56.32.

Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The financial services provider reported $1.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 posted $2.30 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Western Alliance Bancorporation will post 7.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 16th were paid a dividend of $0.37 per share. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.64%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 15th. Western Alliance Bancorporation’s payout ratio is 22.63%.

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.