Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) Short Interest Down 22.2% in March

Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) saw a significant drop in short interest during the month of March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 3,688,093 shares, a drop of 22.2% from the February 26th total of 4,739,356 shares. Currently, 3.5% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 2,312,505 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.6 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on WAL. Truist Financial set a $98.00 target price on Western Alliance Bancorporation in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Western Alliance Bancorporation from $105.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. iA Financial set a $101.00 target price on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. National Alliance Securities reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $105.00 price target on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $97.73.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Trading Down 3.5%

Shares of WAL stock opened at $67.70 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $7.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The business’s 50 day moving average is $83.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $83.26. Western Alliance Bancorporation has a twelve month low of $57.05 and a twelve month high of $97.23.

Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $2.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.40 by $0.19. Western Alliance Bancorporation had a return on equity of 13.33% and a net margin of 18.04%.The firm had revenue of $890.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $912.69 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.95 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Western Alliance Bancorporation will post 9.05 EPS for the current year.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 20th were issued a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 20th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Western Alliance Bancorporation’s payout ratio is presently 19.24%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its position in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 71.2% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 7,815 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $600,000 after purchasing an additional 3,249 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its holdings in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation by 513.5% in the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,730 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $133,000 after buying an additional 1,448 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation by 24.0% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 111,883 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,596,000 after buying an additional 21,642 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its holdings in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 11.3% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 347,529 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,701,000 after acquiring an additional 35,276 shares during the period. Finally, Creative Planning raised its position in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 20.0% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 8,730 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $681,000 after acquiring an additional 1,455 shares in the last quarter. 79.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Company Profile

Western Alliance Bancorporation is a bank holding company headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona. Through its principal subsidiary, Western Alliance Bank, the company provides a range of banking services to commercial clients, entrepreneurs and real estate developers. As one of the largest regional banks in the western United States, it focuses on relationship-driven banking solutions tailored to niche industries and growing businesses.

The company’s core offerings include deposit products, treasury management and a variety of lending services.