Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.38

Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, February 5th,Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of 0.38 per share by the financial services provider on Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.69%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th.

Western Alliance Bancorporation has increased its dividend payment by an average of 7.5% per year over the last three years. Western Alliance Bancorporation has a dividend payout ratio of 14.4% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Western Alliance Bancorporation to earn $10.43 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.52 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 14.6%.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WAL traded down $0.74 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $89.87. The stock had a trading volume of 750,813 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,258,873. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $87.43 and its 200-day moving average price is $84.84. Western Alliance Bancorporation has a fifty-two week low of $53.75 and a fifty-two week high of $98.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The company has a market capitalization of $9.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 1.46.

Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) last released its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Western Alliance Bancorporation will post 9.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Western Alliance Bancorporation from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Royal Bank of Canada set a $99.00 price objective on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price 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. Barclays raised their price objective on Western Alliance Bancorporation from $105.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $103.00 target price on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $98.07.

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.