Loomis Sayles & Co. L P Increases Stock Position in Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL)

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P raised its stake in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) by 35.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 187,163 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 48,847 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P owned approximately 0.17% of Western Alliance Bancorporation worth $16,188,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in WAL. LHM Inc. raised its position in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 2,141.1% in the second quarter. LHM Inc. now owns 757,809 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $47,606,000 after purchasing an additional 723,995 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation by 20.6% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,722,389 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $233,832,000 after buying an additional 636,577 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of 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 valued at $44,522,000 after buying an additional 506,778 shares in the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP purchased a new stake in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation in the 3rd quarter valued at $38,386,000. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can lifted its stake in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 41.4% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 596,262 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,475,000 after acquiring an additional 174,682 shares in the last quarter. 79.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Price Performance

WAL stock opened at $94.03 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $10.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.51, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.44. Western Alliance Bancorporation has a fifty-two week low of $47.60 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 business has a 50 day moving average price of $87.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $76.14.

Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.80 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.90 by ($0.10). The company had revenue of $833.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $811.40 million. Western Alliance Bancorporation had a return on equity of 13.16% and a net margin of 14.66%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Western Alliance Bancorporation will post 7.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This is an increase from Western Alliance Bancorporation’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. Western Alliance Bancorporation’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.46%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Robert P. Latta sold 2,996 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.75, for a total value of $247,919.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,056 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $335,634. This represents a 42.48 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on WAL shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $83.00 to $101.00 in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Wedbush upped their target price on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from $90.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $102.00 price target on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation in a research report on Friday, October 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Western Alliance Bancorporation from $107.00 to $105.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Western Alliance Bancorporation from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $92.73.

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.