Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) Price Target Lowered to $70.00 at Wedbush

Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL - Get Free Report) had its target price reduced by analysts at Wedbush from $75.00 to $70.00 in a report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an "outperform" rating on the financial services provider's stock. Wedbush's target price points to a potential upside of 21.91% from the company's previous close.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. StockNews.com lowered Western Alliance Bancorporation from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, March 9th. Barclays assumed coverage on Western Alliance Bancorporation in a report on Friday, March 8th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $91.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $78.00 price objective on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Western Alliance Bancorporation from $72.00 to $68.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Western Alliance Bancorporation from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $68.73.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Price Performance

WAL stock traded up $1.68 during trading on Friday, hitting $57.42. The company had a trading volume of 4,028,216 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,473,813. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. The company has a market cap of $6.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.78 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $59.50 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $56.41. Western Alliance Bancorporation has a fifty-two week low of $11.35 and a fifty-two week high of $70.23.

Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The financial services provider reported $1.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $711.34 million. Western Alliance Bancorporation had a return on equity of 16.33% and a net margin of 16.74%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.30 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Western Alliance Bancorporation will post 7.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western Alliance Bancorporation

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WAL. WCM Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation in the 4th quarter worth approximately $12,387,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation by 170.4% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,294,476 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $59,507,000 after buying an additional 815,737 shares during the last quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation by 16.7% in the 3rd quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP now owns 11,976 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $551,000 after buying an additional 1,713 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new position in Western Alliance Bancorporation in the third quarter valued at approximately $4,873,000. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its stake in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 489.0% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,333,881 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $61,320,000 after purchasing an additional 1,107,431 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.15% of the company's stock.

About Western Alliance Bancorporation

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.