Hennessy Advisors Inc. Buys 15,000 Shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation $WAL

Key Points

• Hennessy Advisors initiated a 15,000-share position in Western Alliance Bancorporation valued at approximately $1.13 million. Institutional investors collectively own 79.15% of the bank’s stock.
• Western Alliance exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $2.45 EPS versus the $2.43 consensus and $1.01 billion in revenue, up 8.1% year over year.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend from $0.42 to $0.46 per share, equal to a 2.3% annualized yield. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with a $92.18 target price, despite several recent target-price cuts.

Hennessy Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 15,000 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,126,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation during the second quarter valued at about $926,898,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation by 1.0% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,813,995 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $270,203,000 after acquiring an additional 36,534 shares during the last quarter. Davis Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation in the second quarter worth about $274,219,000. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC acquired a new position in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation in the second quarter worth about $174,329,000. Finally, Jupiter Topco LLC purchased a new position in Western Alliance Bancorporation in the second quarter valued at about $101,995,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.15% of the company's stock.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Price Performance

Shares of WAL opened at $78.60 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $8.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.01, a PEG ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.42. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $77.06 and a 200-day moving average of $79.93. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. Western Alliance Bancorporation has a 52 week low of $65.82 and a 52 week high of $97.23.

Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 19th. The financial services provider reported $2.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.43 by $0.02. Western Alliance Bancorporation had a return on equity of 13.50% and a net margin of 17.34%. The business had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $987.91 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.28 EPS. The business's revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Western Alliance Bancorporation will post 9.04 EPS for the current year.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 12th. This is a positive change from Western Alliance Bancorporation's previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. Western Alliance Bancorporation's payout ratio is presently 18.56%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WAL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Stephens lowered their price objective on Western Alliance Bancorporation from $94.00 to $88.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. Truist Financial cut their target price on Western Alliance Bancorporation from $93.00 to $84.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on Western Alliance Bancorporation from $92.00 to $90.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 21st. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Friday, October 23rd. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from $88.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, October 5th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Western Alliance Bancorporation currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $92.18.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Profile

Western Alliance Bancorporation NYSE: WAL is a bank holding company headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona. Through its principal subsidiary, Western Alliance Bank, the company provides banking and financial services to businesses, professionals, entrepreneurs, and individual customers.

Western Alliance Bank offers commercial and industrial lending, commercial real estate financing, construction loans, residential mortgage warehouse lending, and consumer banking services. Its deposit products include checking, savings, money market, and time deposit accounts, while its other services include treasury management, online banking, payments, and wealth management solutions.

The bank serves customers through a combination of regional banking divisions and specialized businesses, with operations focused on markets including Arizona, California, and Nevada as well as nationwide industry-based lending and financial services.

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