UBS Group AG Decreases Stake in Western Alliance Bancorporation $WAL

UBS Group AG lowered its position in Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) by 38.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 341,359 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 212,827 shares during the quarter. UBS Group AG’s holdings in Western Alliance Bancorporation were worth $28,698,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WAL. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation by 71.2% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 7,815 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $600,000 after buying an additional 3,249 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its position in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation by 513.5% during the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,730 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $133,000 after buying an additional 1,448 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation by 24.0% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 111,883 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,596,000 after buying an additional 21,642 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its position in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation by 11.3% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 347,529 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,701,000 after buying an additional 35,276 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its position in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation by 11.3% during the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 7,017 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $547,000 after buying an additional 713 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.15% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on WAL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from $105.00 to $77.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from $93.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from $94.00 to $92.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 27th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from $90.00 to $88.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $93.14.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Stock Performance

Shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation stock opened at $81.80 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $75.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $81.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.52, a PEG ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 1.37. Western Alliance Bancorporation has a 12 month low of $65.82 and a 12 month high of $97.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.80.

Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The financial services provider reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.74. The business had revenue of $968.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $944.18 million. Western Alliance Bancorporation had a net margin of 17.03% and a return on equity of 13.58%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 31.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.79 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Western Alliance Bancorporation will post 9.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 14th will be issued a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 14th. Western Alliance Bancorporation’s payout ratio is presently 19.56%.

About Western Alliance Bancorporation

Western Alliance Bancorporation is a bank holding company headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona. Through its principal subsidiary, Western Alliance Bank, the company provides a range of banking services to commercial clients, entrepreneurs and real estate developers. As one of the largest regional banks in the western United States, it focuses on relationship-driven banking solutions tailored to niche industries and growing businesses.

The company’s core offerings include deposit products, treasury management and a variety of lending services.