Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) Short Interest Update

Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest during the month of March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 3,688,093 shares, a decrease of 22.2% from the February 26th total of 4,739,356 shares. Currently, 3.5% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,312,505 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.6 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on WAL. DA Davidson reduced their target price on Western Alliance Bancorporation from $105.00 to $93.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Western Alliance Bancorporation from $105.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. Truist Financial set a $98.00 target price on Western Alliance Bancorporation in a research report on Friday, January 9th. TD Cowen cut shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $83.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from $107.00 to $103.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 9th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Western Alliance Bancorporation currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $97.73.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Trading Up 4.2%

Shares of NYSE:WAL traded up $2.82 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $70.79. 1,192,571 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,841,824. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. Western Alliance Bancorporation has a 52-week low of $57.05 and a 52-week high of $97.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.11, a P/E/G ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.34. The business’s fifty day moving average is $82.40 and its 200-day moving average is $82.95.

Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $2.59 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.40 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $890.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $912.69 million. Western Alliance Bancorporation had a net margin of 18.04% and a return on equity of 13.33%. The firm’s revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.95 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Western Alliance Bancorporation will post 9.05 EPS for the current year.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 6th. Investors of record on Friday, February 20th were issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 20th. Western Alliance Bancorporation’s payout ratio is currently 19.24%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Alliance Bancorporation

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its position in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 6,008 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $505,000 after buying an additional 113 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management grew its position in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 3,030 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $255,000 after buying an additional 133 shares during the period. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated increased its stake in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 14,318 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,242,000 after acquiring an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. EJF Capital LLC lifted its position in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. EJF Capital LLC now owns 6,223 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $485,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares during the period. Finally, Salzhauer Michael lifted its position in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Salzhauer Michael now owns 44,815 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,886,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares during the period. 79.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.