Wolverine Asset Management LLC Acquires Shares of 2,394 Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL)

Wolverine Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 2,394 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $207,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC bought a new stake in Western Alliance Bancorporation in the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its position in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation by 0.6% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 29,768 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,911,000 after buying an additional 164 shares in the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP bought a new stake in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation in the first quarter valued at approximately $395,000. M&G Plc acquired a new stake in Western Alliance Bancorporation during the first quarter worth approximately $7,612,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,440,410 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $670,170,000 after acquiring an additional 395,101 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.15% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on WAL. Bank of America increased their target price on Western Alliance Bancorporation from $82.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $102.00 target price on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation in a report on Friday, October 18th. Royal Bank of Canada set a $99.00 price target on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. StockNews.com cut shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, Wedbush raised their target price on Western Alliance Bancorporation from $90.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $92.73.

Insider Transactions at Western Alliance Bancorporation

In other news, Director Robert P. Latta sold 2,996 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.75, for a total value of $247,919.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,056 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $335,634. The trade was a 42.48 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 7,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $650,843.43. The trade was a 58.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.75% of the company’s stock.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WAL opened at $91.87 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $10.11 billion, a PE ratio of 14.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.44. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $85.30 and its 200-day moving average is $74.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.85. Western Alliance Bancorporation has a 52 week low of $47.54 and a 52 week high of $96.45.

Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.80 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.90 by ($0.10). The company had revenue of $833.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $811.40 million. Western Alliance Bancorporation had a return on equity of 13.16% and a net margin of 14.66%. Sell-side analysts predict that Western Alliance Bancorporation will post 7.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.38 per share. This is a positive change from Western Alliance Bancorporation’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.65%. Western Alliance Bancorporation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.84%.

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.