Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) Stock Moved Down to “Sell” by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report issued on Saturday,Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on WAL. Citigroup dropped their target price on Western Alliance Bancorporation from $98.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 22nd. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from $95.00 to $93.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 9th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $95.00 price target on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Western Alliance Bancorporation currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $92.56.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Stock Down 0.3%

NYSE WAL opened at $75.69 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.80. Western Alliance Bancorporation has a fifty-two week low of $65.82 and a fifty-two week high of $97.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.14 billion, a PE ratio of 8.36, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.43. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $76.88 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $79.71.

Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 19th. The financial services provider reported $2.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.43 by $0.02. Western Alliance Bancorporation had a return on equity of 13.50% and a net margin of 17.34%. The business had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $987.91 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.28 earnings per share. Western Alliance Bancorporation’s revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Western Alliance Bancorporation will post 9.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. This is an increase from Western Alliance Bancorporation’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 12th. Western Alliance Bancorporation’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.56%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western Alliance Bancorporation

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Western Alliance Bancorporation during the second quarter worth $926,898,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,813,995 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $270,203,000 after purchasing an additional 36,534 shares during the period. Davis Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $274,219,000. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC purchased a new position in Western Alliance Bancorporation in the second quarter valued at approximately $174,329,000. Finally, Jupiter Topco LLC purchased a new position in Western Alliance Bancorporation in the second quarter valued at approximately $101,995,000. Institutional investors own 79.15% of the company’s stock.

About Western Alliance Bancorporation

Western Alliance Bancorporation is a bank holding company headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, and the parent of Western Alliance Bank. The company provides commercial banking and related financial services to businesses, business owners and individuals.

Its services include business and commercial real estate lending, deposit accounts, treasury management, and specialized banking for industries such as technology, healthcare, and property management. Through its banking divisions and specialized business lines, Western Alliance serves clients across the western United States and beyond.

Western Alliance traces its history to the 1990s and has expanded through acquisitions and the development of regional banking divisions.