SG Americas Securities LLC Sells 92,180 Shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL)

SG Americas Securities LLC reduced its stake in Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) by 98.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,710 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 92,180 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Western Alliance Bancorporation were worth $113,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Harbour Investments Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation by 400.7% in the first quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 696 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 557 shares in the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P bought a new stake in Western Alliance Bancorporation in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $64,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Western Alliance Bancorporation during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. State of Wyoming grew its stake in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation by 54.7% during the 2nd quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 783 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 277 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its holdings in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation by 436.9% in the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 651 shares during the last quarter. 79.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WAL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $78.00 target price on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Western Alliance Bancorporation from $72.00 to $68.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. StockNews.com lowered Western Alliance Bancorporation from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, March 9th. Barclays started coverage on Western Alliance Bancorporation in a research note on Friday, March 8th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $91.00 price target for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Western Alliance Bancorporation from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Western Alliance Bancorporation currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $71.36.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Price Performance

Western Alliance Bancorporation stock opened at $57.42 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.78 and a beta of 1.47. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $59.50 and its 200-day moving average is $56.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. Western Alliance Bancorporation has a 12 month low of $11.35 and a 12 month high of $70.23.

Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 19th. The financial services provider reported $1.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $711.34 million. Western Alliance Bancorporation had a return on equity of 16.33% and a net margin of 16.74%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.30 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Western Alliance Bancorporation will post 7.88 EPS for the current year.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 16th were issued a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.58%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 15th. Western Alliance Bancorporation’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.63%.

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.