Weatherly Asset Management L. P. Takes $238,000 Position in Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL)

Weatherly Asset Management L. P. purchased a new position in Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 3,615 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $238,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. WCM Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation in the 4th quarter worth about $12,387,000. Smead Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Western Alliance Bancorporation in the fourth quarter worth about $77,957,000. Strs Ohio boosted its position in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 35.3% during the 4th quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 86,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,697,000 after acquiring an additional 22,600 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation by 170.4% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,294,476 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $59,507,000 after acquiring an additional 815,737 shares during the period. Finally, Dark Forest Capital Management LP raised its position in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation by 16.7% in the 3rd quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP now owns 11,976 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $551,000 after acquiring an additional 1,713 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.15% of the company’s stock.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Stock Performance

NYSE WAL traded down $0.68 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $59.14. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 205,817 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,452,039. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The company has a market cap of $6.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.57 and a beta of 1.47. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $59.43 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $56.82. Western Alliance Bancorporation has a 12 month low of $11.35 and a 12 month high of $70.23.

Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 19th. The financial services provider reported $1.72 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.03. Western Alliance Bancorporation had a net margin of 16.50% and a return on equity of 14.99%. The firm had revenue of $1.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $711.34 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.30 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Western Alliance Bancorporation will post 7.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 16th were issued a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. Western Alliance Bancorporation’s dividend payout ratio is 21.57%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WAL has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wedbush reduced their price target on Western Alliance Bancorporation from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from $72.00 to $68.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Western Alliance Bancorporation from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Western Alliance Bancorporation from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Western Alliance Bancorporation presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $70.56.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Profile

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.