Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) Stock Price Down 6.2% – What’s Next?

Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL)’s share price traded down 6.2% on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $89.06 and last traded at $88.19. 265,000 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 78% from the average session volume of 1,220,398 shares. The stock had previously closed at $94.00.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from $102.00 to $95.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from $110.00 to $105.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Western Alliance Bancorporation from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $83.00 to $101.00 in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on Western Alliance Bancorporation from $102.00 to $101.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, UBS Group assumed coverage on Western Alliance Bancorporation in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $115.00 price target for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Western Alliance Bancorporation presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $94.38.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $9.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.95, a PEG ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $88.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $84.11.

Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.92 by $0.03. Western Alliance Bancorporation had a return on equity of 13.16% and a net margin of 14.66%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Western Alliance Bancorporation will post 7.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th were given a $0.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.68%. This is an increase from Western Alliance Bancorporation’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. Western Alliance Bancorporation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.46%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WAL. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation by 46.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,488,345 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $388,197,000 after purchasing an additional 1,418,472 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation by 93.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,793,014 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $241,568,000 after purchasing an additional 1,347,921 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 4.1% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,896,377 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $164,019,000 after purchasing an additional 74,956 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 6.9% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,880,681 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $162,701,000 after purchasing an additional 120,729 shares during the period. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. boosted its position in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation by 10.4% during the 3rd quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 1,802,505 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $155,899,000 after acquiring an additional 169,244 shares in the last quarter. 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.