Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Has $1.51 Million Stock Holdings in Western Alliance Bancorporation $WAL

Key Points

• Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC increased its stake in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 24.7% during the first quarter, reaching a total of 19,698 shares valued at approximately $1.51 million.
• Western Alliance Bancorporation reported an EPS of $2.07 for the last quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations of $2.04, while revenue totaled $836.21 million.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.38 per share, representing an annualized yield of 1.8%, to be paid on August 29th.

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL - Free Report) by 24.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 19,698 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 3,900 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC's holdings in Western Alliance Bancorporation were worth $1,513,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WAL. Persistent Asset Partners Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation in the first quarter worth $689,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its position in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 16.8% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 34,078 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,618,000 after purchasing an additional 4,895 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its stake in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 68.6% in the 1st quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 28,242 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,170,000 after purchasing an additional 11,492 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Western Alliance Bancorporation in the 1st quarter valued at about $45,486,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation by 5.9% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,076,021 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $466,821,000 after purchasing an additional 339,758 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.15% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from $97.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Western Alliance Bancorporation in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $95.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Western Alliance Bancorporation from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from $90.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on Western Alliance Bancorporation from $91.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $96.62.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Price Performance

WAL stock traded up $5.7370 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $87.1870. 2,047,122 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 931,845. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $80.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $77.16. The company has a market cap of $9.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.46, a P/E/G ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. Western Alliance Bancorporation has a one year low of $57.05 and a one year high of $98.10.

Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The financial services provider reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.04 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $836.21 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $838.58 million. Western Alliance Bancorporation had a return on equity of 12.62% and a net margin of 16.39%.During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.75 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Western Alliance Bancorporation will post 9.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.38 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 14th. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. Western Alliance Bancorporation's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.97%.

Insider Activity

In other Western Alliance Bancorporation news, insider Tim R. Bruckner sold 2,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.91, for a total value of $209,775.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 24,759 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,077,527.69. The trade was a 9.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 2.75% of the company's stock.

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.