Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) Shares Cross Above 200-Day Moving Average – Here’s Why

Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL)’s stock price passed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Wednesday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $80.89 and traded as high as $84.51. Western Alliance Bancorporation shares last traded at $83.54, with a volume of 463,806 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on WAL. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from $92.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $83.00 to $101.00 in a report on Monday, October 7th. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $102.00 price objective on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation in a report on Friday, October 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from $107.00 to $105.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from $102.00 to $101.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $94.75.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $88.69 and its 200-day simple moving average is $80.89. The company has a market cap of $9.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.45.

Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.90 by ($0.10). Western Alliance Bancorporation had a net margin of 14.66% and a return on equity of 13.16%. The firm had revenue of $833.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $811.40 million. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Western Alliance Bancorporation will post 7.14 EPS for the current year.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th were given a dividend of $0.38 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.82%. This is an increase from Western Alliance Bancorporation’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. Western Alliance Bancorporation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.46%.

Institutional Trading of Western Alliance Bancorporation

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation by 46.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,488,345 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $388,197,000 after buying an additional 1,418,472 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position 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 worth $233,832,000 after buying an additional 636,577 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 0.7% during the second quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 2,813,823 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $176,764,000 after purchasing an additional 20,876 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 93.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,793,014 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $241,568,000 after purchasing an additional 1,347,921 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 4.1% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,896,377 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $164,019,000 after purchasing an additional 74,956 shares during 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.