First Trust Advisors LP Grows Stock Holdings in Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL)

Posted by Defense World Staff on Mar 12th, 2023

First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL – Get Rating) by 69.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 175,454 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 72,137 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned approximately 0.16% of Western Alliance Bancorporation worth $11,534,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation by 34.9% during the second quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 298,117 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $21,047,000 after purchasing an additional 77,075 shares during the last quarter. Symmetry Partners LLC increased its holdings in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 4.4% during the third quarter. Symmetry Partners LLC now owns 17,481 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,149,000 after buying an additional 733 shares during the last quarter. TownSquare Capital LLC increased its holdings in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 3.1% during the second quarter. TownSquare Capital LLC now owns 7,499 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $529,000 after buying an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its holdings in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 182.3% during the third quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 99,799 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,558,000 after buying an additional 64,452 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ergoteles LLC purchased a new stake in Western Alliance Bancorporation during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,399,000. 84.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Tim R. Bruckner sold 1,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.16, for a total transaction of $128,030.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 20,244 shares in the company, valued at $1,481,051.04. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 2.57% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WAL opened at $49.34 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.00. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $70.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $68.43. Western Alliance Bancorporation has a fifty-two week low of $30.05 and a fifty-two week high of $89.26. The firm has a market cap of $5.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.09, a P/E/G ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 1.44.

Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 25th. The financial services provider reported $2.67 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.67. Western Alliance Bancorporation had a net margin of 34.94% and a return on equity of 22.00%. The firm had revenue of $701.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $733.13 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.32 earnings per share. Western Alliance Bancorporation’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Western Alliance Bancorporation will post 10.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, February 17th were given a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 16th. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.92%. Western Alliance Bancorporation’s dividend payout ratio is 14.85%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on WAL. StockNews.com raised shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 27th. Stephens increased their price objective on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from $80.00 to $86.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 26th. TheStreet raised shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from $89.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Western Alliance Bancorporation currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $86.75.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Profile

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Western Alliance Bancorp is a bank holding company, which engages in the provision of deposit, lending, treasury management, international banking, and online banking products and services. It operates through the following business segments: Commercial, Consumer Related, and Corporate and Other. The Commercial segment focuses on delivering commercial banking and treasury management products and services to small and middle-market businesses, specialized banking services to sophisticated commercial institutions and investors within niche industries, as well as financial services to the real estate industry.