Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,690,000 shares, a growth of 32.0% from the September 30th total of 1,280,000 shares. Currently, 1.8% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 811,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.1 days.

In other Western Alliance Bancorporation news, Director Todd Marshall sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.18, for a total value of $1,003,600.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 27,096 shares in the company, valued at $1,359,677.28. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders sold 50,000 shares of company stock worth $2,523,400 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 7.72% of the company’s stock.

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation by 1,048.3% in the second quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 666 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 608 shares in the last quarter. C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation in the second quarter worth approximately $31,000. Liberty Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation in the third quarter worth approximately $36,000. Pearl River Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation in the second quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale bought a new position in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation in the second quarter worth approximately $44,000. 85.02% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on WAL shares. SunTrust Banks decreased their price objective on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from $57.00 to $56.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Piper Jaffray Companies set a $62.00 price target on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Citigroup set a $58.00 price target on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Stephens set a $55.00 price target on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. The stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $55.83.

Shares of NYSE WAL traded down $0.33 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $51.92. 8,578 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 818,508. Western Alliance Bancorporation has a 12-month low of $37.39 and a 12-month high of $53.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.93. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $47.62 and a 200 day moving average price of $45.62. The firm has a market cap of $5.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.53, a P/E/G ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 1.65.

Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.05. Western Alliance Bancorporation had a net margin of 39.08% and a return on equity of 17.65%. The company had revenue of $288.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $281.83 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.05 earnings per share. Western Alliance Bancorporation’s quarterly revenue was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Western Alliance Bancorporation will post 4.78 earnings per share for the current year.

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 14th. Western Alliance Bancorporation’s payout ratio is currently 24.15%.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Company Profile

Western Alliance Bancorporation operates as the holding company for Western Alliance Bank that provides various banking products and related services primarily in Arizona, California, and Nevada. The company offers deposit products, including checking accounts, savings accounts, and money market accounts, as well as fixed-rate and fixed maturity certificates of deposit accounts.

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