Western Alliance Bancorporation Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.37 (NYSE:WAL)

Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, May 3rd, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of 0.37 per share by the financial services provider on Friday, May 31st. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th.

Western Alliance Bancorporation has raised its dividend payment by an average of 13.2% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 3 years. Western Alliance Bancorporation has a dividend payout ratio of 15.9% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Western Alliance Bancorporation to earn $9.29 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.48 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 15.9%.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Stock Performance

WAL stock traded up $1.28 on Friday, reaching $61.24. 1,066,725 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,407,008. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.75 billion, a PE ratio of 8.93 and a beta of 1.47. Western Alliance Bancorporation has a 12 month low of $11.35 and a 12 month high of $70.23. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $59.20 and its 200 day moving average price is $57.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.93.

Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 19th. The financial services provider reported $1.72 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $711.34 million. Western Alliance Bancorporation had a net margin of 16.50% and a return on equity of 14.99%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.30 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Western Alliance Bancorporation will post 7.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on WAL. DA Davidson reduced their target price on Western Alliance Bancorporation from $85.00 to $78.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on Western Alliance Bancorporation from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from $79.00 to $74.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $82.00 price target on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation in a report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $70.56.

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.