Schroder Investment Management Group Buys 35,508 Shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL)

Schroder Investment Management Group raised its position in Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) by 12.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 312,747 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 35,508 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group owned about 0.28% of Western Alliance Bancorporation worth $26,136,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation by 46.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,488,345 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $388,197,000 after buying an additional 1,418,472 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Western Alliance Bancorporation in the fourth quarter worth about $109,298,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 6,342.7% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 514,768 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $44,522,000 after purchasing an additional 506,778 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in Western Alliance Bancorporation during the third quarter valued at approximately $39,230,000. Finally, Loomis Sayles & Co. L P grew its stake in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation by 116.6% in the 4th quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 405,382 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,866,000 after purchasing an additional 218,219 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.15% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WAL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group initiated coverage on Western Alliance Bancorporation in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $115.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Western Alliance Bancorporation from $110.00 to $105.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com raised shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $103.00 price target on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from $102.00 to $95.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Western Alliance Bancorporation has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $98.07.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Stock Up 2.6 %

NYSE:WAL opened at $77.71 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $8.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.95, a P/E/G ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.85. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $83.56 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $85.90. Western Alliance Bancorporation has a 52-week low of $53.75 and a 52-week high of $98.10.

Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.92 by $0.03. Western Alliance Bancorporation had a return on equity of 13.14% and a net margin of 15.49%. On average, analysts anticipate that Western Alliance Bancorporation will post 9.05 EPS for the current year.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $0.38 per share. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Western Alliance Bancorporation’s dividend payout ratio is 21.41%.

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.