Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) Announces Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.03 EPS

Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) released its quarterly earnings data on Friday. The financial services provider reported $1.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.03, Briefing.com reports. Western Alliance Bancorporation had a return on equity of 16.33% and a net margin of 16.74%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.30 earnings per share.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Trading Up 0.5 %

Western Alliance Bancorporation stock opened at $55.78 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.96. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $59.58 and its 200-day simple moving average is $56.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.15 billion, a PE ratio of 8.53 and a beta of 1.47. Western Alliance Bancorporation has a 52 week low of $11.35 and a 52 week high of $70.23.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 16th were paid a $0.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.65%. Western Alliance Bancorporation’s payout ratio is presently 22.63%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wedbush reduced their price objective on Western Alliance Bancorporation from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Barclays assumed coverage on Western Alliance Bancorporation in a research report on Friday, March 8th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $91.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com cut Western Alliance Bancorporation from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 9th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $78.00 price target on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on 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 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $67.60.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western Alliance Bancorporation

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WAL. State Street Corp increased its stake in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 44.4% during 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 acquiring an additional 1,246,855 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Western Alliance Bancorporation during the fourth quarter valued at about $68,940,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. bought a new position in Western Alliance Bancorporation during the first quarter valued at about $32,430,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 21.5% during 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 acquiring an additional 880,430 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. bought a new position in Western Alliance Bancorporation during the first quarter valued at about $24,419,000. 79.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.