Wedbush Cuts Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) Price Target to $70.00

Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) had its price target trimmed by Wedbush from $75.00 to $70.00 in a research report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Wedbush also issued estimates for Western Alliance Bancorporation’s Q2 2024 earnings at $1.75 EPS, FY2024 earnings at $7.73 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $2.53 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $2.57 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $9.65 EPS.

WAL has been the subject of several other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from $72.00 to $68.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Truist Financial restated a buy rating and issued a $80.00 price objective on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation in a report on Monday, April 1st. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report on Saturday, March 9th. Finally, Barclays began coverage on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation in a report on Friday, March 8th. They issued an overweight rating and a $91.00 price objective on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Western Alliance Bancorporation has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $70.88.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Stock Performance

Western Alliance Bancorporation stock opened at $58.71 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $59.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $56.71. Western Alliance Bancorporation has a 1-year low of $11.35 and a 1-year high of $70.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The stock has a market cap of $6.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.56 and a beta of 1.47.

Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The financial services provider reported $1.72 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.03. Western Alliance Bancorporation had a net margin of 16.50% and a return on equity of 14.99%. The business had revenue of $1.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $711.34 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.30 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Western Alliance Bancorporation will post 7.87 EPS for the current year.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 16th were given a dividend of $0.37 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.52%. Western Alliance Bancorporation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.57%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Alliance Bancorporation

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC acquired a new stake in Western Alliance Bancorporation during the 1st quarter worth $27,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 57.4% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 502 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its stake in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 422.2% during the 3rd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 940 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 760 shares in the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Western Alliance Bancorporation in the fourth quarter valued at $65,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC acquired a new position in Western Alliance Bancorporation in the fourth quarter valued at $93,000. 79.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.