Traders Buy Large Volume of Put Options on Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL)

Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) saw some unusual options trading on Friday. Traders acquired 9,656 put options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 68% compared to the average volume of 5,738 put options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Western Alliance Bancorporation from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 8th. StockNews.com lowered Western Alliance Bancorporation from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 9th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $85.00 price objective on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Barclays assumed coverage on Western Alliance Bancorporation in a research note on Friday, March 8th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $91.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Citigroup increased 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 investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $68.73.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Trading Up 1.9 %

NYSE WAL traded up $1.05 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $56.79. 1,245,318 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,434,862. The business’s 50 day moving average is $59.58 and its 200-day moving average is $56.32. Western Alliance Bancorporation has a 12-month low of $11.35 and a 12-month high of $70.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.48 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.96.

Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 19th. The financial services provider reported $1.72 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $711.34 million. Western Alliance Bancorporation had a return on equity of 16.33% and a net margin of 16.74%. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.30 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Western Alliance Bancorporation will post 7.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 16th were issued a $0.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 15th. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.61%. Western Alliance Bancorporation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.63%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western Alliance Bancorporation

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Harbour Investments Inc. grew its stake in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation by 400.7% in the first quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 696 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 557 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation in the first quarter valued at about $27,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation in the second quarter valued at about $28,000. State of Wyoming grew its stake in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation by 54.7% in the second quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 783 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 277 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation by 57.4% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 502 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. 79.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.