Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) Shares Gap Down - Here's Why

Shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL - Get Free Report) gapped down before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $93.92, but opened at $88.30. Western Alliance Bancorporation shares last traded at $87.14, with a volume of 843,956 shares.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WAL has been the topic of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from $100.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Wedbush raised their price target on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from $90.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the company from $83.00 to $101.00 in a report on Monday, October 7th. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from $88.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from $70.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $92.27.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The firm has a market cap of $9.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.44. The business's 50-day moving average price is $82.58 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $70.51.

Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.71 by $0.04. Western Alliance Bancorporation had a net margin of 15.54% and a return on equity of 13.98%. The business had revenue of $771.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $737.97 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.96 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Western Alliance Bancorporation will post 7.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th were given a dividend of $0.37 per share. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. Western Alliance Bancorporation's payout ratio is currently 22.26%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Western Alliance Bancorporation news, insider Stephen Russell Curley sold 5,070 shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.43, for a total value of $387,500.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 36,718 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,806,356.74. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Western Alliance Bancorporation news, insider Stephen Russell Curley sold 5,070 shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.43, for a total value of $387,500.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 36,718 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,806,356.74. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Robert P. Latta sold 2,996 shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.75, for a total transaction of $247,919.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,056 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $335,634. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 21,265 shares of company stock valued at $1,700,391 over the last 90 days. 2.75% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western Alliance Bancorporation

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WAL. Cincinnati Insurance Co. acquired a new position in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation during the first quarter valued at $46,538,000. LHM Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation by 2,141.1% during the second quarter. LHM Inc. now owns 757,809 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $47,606,000 after acquiring an additional 723,995 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation by 16.3% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,112,376 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $328,165,000 after purchasing an additional 717,242 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation by 20.6% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,722,389 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $233,832,000 after purchasing an additional 636,577 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation by 3.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,440,410 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $670,170,000 after purchasing an additional 395,101 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.15% of the company's stock.

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.