Amalgamated Bank Lowers Stake in Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL)

Amalgamated Bank lessened its holdings in Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) by 41.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 11,969 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 8,577 shares during the quarter. Amalgamated Bank’s holdings in Western Alliance Bancorporation were worth $752,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WAL. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position 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 valued at $670,170,000 after buying an additional 395,101 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation by 16.3% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,112,376 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $328,165,000 after acquiring an additional 717,242 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings 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 valued at $233,832,000 after acquiring an additional 636,577 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation by 0.7% in the 2nd 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. Finally, Hood River Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 5.9% in the 1st quarter. Hood River Capital Management LLC now owns 1,641,660 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $105,378,000 after purchasing an additional 91,535 shares in the last quarter. 79.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WAL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wedbush lifted their target price on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from $90.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from $70.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Western Alliance Bancorporation from $68.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Western Alliance Bancorporation from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Barclays increased 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Western Alliance Bancorporation has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $87.40.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WAL opened at $85.59 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $9.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.44. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $79.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $67.66. Western Alliance Bancorporation has a fifty-two week low of $38.81 and a fifty-two week high of $88.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.88.

Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 posted $1.96 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Western Alliance Bancorporation will post 7.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th were issued a dividend of $0.37 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.73%. Western Alliance Bancorporation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.57%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Robert P. Latta sold 2,996 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.75, for a total value of $247,919.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 4,056 shares in the company, valued at $335,634. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Western Alliance Bancorporation news, Director Robert P. Latta sold 2,996 shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.75, for a total value of $247,919.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,056 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $335,634. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Barbara Kennedy sold 11,083 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.59, for a total transaction of $904,261.97. Following the sale, the insider now owns 7,977 shares in the company, valued at $650,843.43. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 21,265 shares of company stock worth $1,700,391. 2.75% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Western Alliance Bancorporation 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.