HighTower Advisors LLC Purchases 11,492 Shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation $WAL

Key Points

• HighTower Advisors LLC increased its stake in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 68.6% during Q1, owning 28,242 shares worth $2.17 million after acquiring an additional 11,492 shares.
• Research analysts are bullish on the stock, with an average target price of $96.62 and twelve analysts rating it as a Buy.
• Western Alliance Bancorporation recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.38, translating to an annualized yield of 1.7%.

HighTower Advisors LLC increased its stake in Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL - Free Report) by 68.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 28,242 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 11,492 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC's holdings in Western Alliance Bancorporation were worth $2,170,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Western Alliance Bancorporation in the 1st quarter worth about $45,486,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 5.9% in 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 in the last quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 272.0% in the 1st quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC now owns 12,864 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $988,000 after purchasing an additional 9,406 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI increased its stake in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 22.7% in the 1st quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 763 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG increased its stake in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 215.8% in the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 18,993 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,459,000 after purchasing an additional 12,979 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.15% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WAL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Western Alliance Bancorporation from $94.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. DA Davidson lifted their target price on Western Alliance Bancorporation from $90.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Western Alliance Bancorporation from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. Barclays lifted their target price on Western Alliance Bancorporation from $97.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their target price on Western Alliance Bancorporation from $96.00 to $93.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Western Alliance Bancorporation has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $97.79.

Insider Activity at Western Alliance Bancorporation

In related news, insider Tim R. Bruckner sold 2,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.91, for a total value of $209,775.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 24,759 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,077,527.69. The trade was a 9.17% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 2.75% of the company's stock.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of NYSE WAL traded up $0.88 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $88.95. The stock had a trading volume of 969,530 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,107,761. The company has a market capitalization of $9.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.69, a P/E/G ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 1.33. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $80.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $77.21. Western Alliance Bancorporation has a 52 week low of $57.05 and a 52 week high of $98.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.86.

Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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 analysts' expectations 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 quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.75 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Western Alliance Bancorporation will post 9.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 14th will be paid a $0.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 14th. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. Western Alliance Bancorporation's payout ratio is presently 19.97%.

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.