Norges Bank Invests $109.30 Million in Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL)

Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,308,334 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $109,298,000. Norges Bank owned about 1.19% of Western Alliance Bancorporation at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp grew 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 during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 6,342.7% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 514,768 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $44,522,000 after acquiring 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 worth $39,230,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P raised its position in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 116.6% in the fourth 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. Finally, Philadelphia Financial Management of San Francisco LLC acquired a new position in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation in the 3rd quarter valued at $16,250,000. 79.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WAL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from $115.00 to $116.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $103.00 price target on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $115.00 price objective on the stock. DA Davidson dropped their target price on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from $110.00 to $106.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on 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 given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Western Alliance Bancorporation has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $98.07.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Stock Performance

Shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation stock opened at $75.60 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $83.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $85.96. The company has a market cap of $8.35 billion, a PE ratio of 10.65, a P/E/G ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 1.43. Western Alliance Bancorporation has a one year low of $53.75 and a one year high of $98.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.85.

Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.95 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.92 by $0.03. Western Alliance Bancorporation had a net margin of 15.49% and a return on equity of 13.14%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Western Alliance Bancorporation will post 9.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $0.38 per share. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Western Alliance Bancorporation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.41%.

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.