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

Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) posted its earnings results on Friday. The financial services provider reported $1.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 %

NYSE:WAL opened at $55.78 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $6.15 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 stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $59.58 and its 200-day simple moving average is $56.32. Western Alliance Bancorporation has a 12-month low of $11.35 and a 12-month high of $70.23.

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 issued a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.65%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 15th. Western Alliance Bancorporation’s payout ratio is currently 22.63%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Western Alliance Bancorporation from $72.00 to $68.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $85.00 price objective on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. 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 note on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Western Alliance Bancorporation from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on Western Alliance Bancorporation from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $67.60.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WAL. Harbour Investments Inc. grew its holdings in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 400.7% during the first quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 696 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 557 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P acquired a new position in Western Alliance Bancorporation during the first quarter worth $64,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Western Alliance Bancorporation during the second quarter worth $28,000. State of Wyoming grew its holdings in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 54.7% during the second 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 period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its holdings in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 436.9% during the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $66,000 after acquiring an additional 651 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.15% of the company’s stock.

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.