Bank of Montreal Can Buys 174,682 Shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL)

Bank of Montreal Can grew its position in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL - Free Report) by 41.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 596,262 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 174,682 shares during the quarter. Bank of Montreal Can owned 0.54% of Western Alliance Bancorporation worth $37,475,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 29,768 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,911,000 after buying an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position 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 worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation by 26.5% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,165 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $73,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares during the last quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC grew its position in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 1.0% during the first quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC now owns 29,467 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,891,000 after acquiring an additional 287 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Madison Asset Management LLC grew its position in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Madison Asset Management LLC now owns 75,371 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $4,959,000 after acquiring an additional 297 shares during the last quarter. 79.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on WAL. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Western Alliance Bancorporation from $78.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Western Alliance Bancorporation from $68.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Barclays raised their price objective on Western Alliance Bancorporation from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Western Alliance Bancorporation from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on 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, two have issued a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Western Alliance Bancorporation currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $87.40.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Stock Performance

NYSE:WAL traded up $0.91 on Friday, hitting $86.27. The stock had a trading volume of 145,466 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,303,313. The stock has a market cap of $9.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $79.43 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $67.66. Western Alliance Bancorporation has a 52-week low of $38.81 and a 52-week high of $88.92.

Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.71 by $0.04. Western Alliance Bancorporation had a return on equity of 13.98% and a net margin of 15.54%. The firm had revenue of $771.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $737.97 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.96 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Western Alliance Bancorporation will post 7.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.72%. Western Alliance Bancorporation's payout ratio is currently 21.57%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Stephen Russell Curley sold 5,070 shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.43, for a total transaction of $387,500.10. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 36,718 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,806,356.74. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Western Alliance Bancorporation news, insider Barbara Kennedy sold 11,083 shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.59, for a total value of $904,261.97. Following the sale, the insider now owns 7,977 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $650,843.43. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Stephen Russell Curley sold 5,070 shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.43, for a total value of $387,500.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 36,718 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,806,356.74. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 21,265 shares of company stock valued at $1,700,391 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 2.75% of the company's stock.

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.