Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) Short Interest Down 19.0% in March

Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 2,989,036 shares, a decrease of 19.0% from the March 15th total of 3,688,093 shares. Currently, 2.8% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,485,017 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.0 days.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Trading Up 2.6%

Shares of WAL traded up $2.03 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $79.32. The stock had a trading volume of 1,161,742 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,106,568. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The firm has a market cap of $8.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.09, a P/E/G ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.37. The business’s fifty day moving average is $78.53 and its 200 day moving average is $81.79. Western Alliance Bancorporation has a 52-week low of $62.38 and a 52-week high of $97.23.

Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) last announced its 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. The company had revenue of $890.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $912.69 million. Western Alliance Bancorporation had a net margin of 18.04% and a return on equity of 13.33%. Western Alliance Bancorporation’s revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.95 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Western Alliance Bancorporation will post 9.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 20th were paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 20th. Western Alliance Bancorporation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.24%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,746,867 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $735,350,000 after buying an additional 777,369 shares during the period. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC boosted its stake in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 7.9% during the fourth quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 6,450,408 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $542,286,000 after buying an additional 470,492 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 3.4% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,016,027 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $521,710,000 after buying an additional 197,854 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,777,461 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $317,574,000 after buying an additional 102,943 shares during the period. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 3.5% during the third quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 2,394,722 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $207,670,000 after buying an additional 81,386 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.15% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on WAL shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $83.00 to $79.00 in a report on Monday, March 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from $105.00 to $77.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from $108.00 to $94.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from $90.00 to $88.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $105.00 price objective on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation in a report on Friday, March 6th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Western Alliance Bancorporation currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $93.27.

About Western Alliance Bancorporation

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.