Western Alliance Bancorporation $WAL Shares Acquired by MidWestOne Financial Group Inc.

MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) by 42.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 36,559 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,887 shares during the period. MidWestOne Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Western Alliance Bancorporation were worth $3,170,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. William Blair Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 0.9% during the second quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 2,313,336 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $180,394,000 after purchasing an additional 20,704 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation by 11.3% in the third quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 2,194,630 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $190,318,000 after purchasing an additional 223,425 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 5.4% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,035,515 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $158,755,000 after buying an additional 104,182 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Western Alliance Bancorporation during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $137,289,000. Finally, Smead Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 19.2% in the 2nd quarter. Smead Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,435,247 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $111,921,000 after buying an additional 231,159 shares during the period. 79.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Western Alliance Bancorporation from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Citigroup increased their price target on Western Alliance Bancorporation from $104.00 to $107.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Western Alliance Bancorporation from $98.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, UBS Group set a $106.00 price target on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Western Alliance Bancorporation has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $103.73.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WAL opened at $93.07 on Friday. Western Alliance Bancorporation has a 12 month low of $57.05 and a 12 month high of $97.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.66, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $88.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $84.54.

Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 26th. The financial services provider reported $2.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.40 by $0.19. Western Alliance Bancorporation had a return on equity of 13.33% and a net margin of 18.04%.The company had revenue of $980.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $912.69 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.95 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Western Alliance Bancorporation will post 9.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 20th will be given a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 20th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. Western Alliance Bancorporation’s payout ratio is 19.24%.

About Western Alliance Bancorporation

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.