Jefferies Financial Group Cuts Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) Price Target to $70.00

Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) had its target price trimmed by Jefferies Financial Group from $80.00 to $70.00 in a report issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also commented on WAL. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report on Saturday, March 9th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an equal weight rating and issued a $72.00 price objective (up previously from $62.00) on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, Truist Financial reissued a buy rating and issued a $80.00 price objective on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation in a research report on Monday, April 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $66.60.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Stock Performance

Shares of WAL stock opened at $57.44 on Monday. Western Alliance Bancorporation has a one year low of $11.35 and a one year high of $70.23. 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 company has a 50 day moving average price of $59.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $55.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.78 and a beta of 1.47.

Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 26th. The financial services provider reported $1.91 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.93 by ($0.02). Western Alliance Bancorporation had a return on equity of 16.33% and a net margin of 16.74%. The company had revenue of $1.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $705.97 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.67 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Western Alliance Bancorporation will post 7.89 EPS for the current year.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 16th were paid a dividend of $0.37 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.58%. Western Alliance Bancorporation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.63%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WAL. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 44.4% during the 1st 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 last quarter. Smead Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Western Alliance Bancorporation during the 4th quarter valued at $77,957,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in Western Alliance Bancorporation during the 4th quarter valued at $68,940,000. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 489.0% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,333,881 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $61,320,000 after acquiring an additional 1,107,431 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alyeska Investment Group L.P. bought a new position in Western Alliance Bancorporation during the 1st quarter valued at $32,430,000. 79.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Company 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.