The stock price of Western Alliance Bancorp (NYSE: WAL) has surged by 1.14 when compared to previous closing price of 62.98, but the company has seen a 6.24% gain in its stock price over the last five trading sessions. Seeking Alpha reported 2024-04-26 that Western Alliance Bancorporation reported better-than-expected earnings for Q1’24. Strong net interest income results drove the bank’s earnings. Deposit balance increased by almost 31%, and high-cost borrowings declined by 61%.
Is It Worth Investing in Western Alliance Bancorp (NYSE: WAL) Right Now?
Western Alliance Bancorp (NYSE: WAL) has a higher price-to-earnings ratio of 9.29x compared to its average ratio. WAL has 36-month beta value of 1.46. Analysts have mixed views on the stock, with 6 analysts rating it as a “buy,” 3 as “overweight,” 1 as “hold,” and 0 as “sell.”
The public float for WAL is 108.30M, and currently, short sellers hold a 4.70% ratio of that float. The average trading volume of WAL on May 10, 2024 was 1.23M shares.
WAL’s Market Performance
WAL’s stock has seen a 6.24% increase for the week, with a 11.13% rise in the past month and a 8.09% gain in the past quarter. The volatility ratio for the week is 2.70%, and the volatility levels for the past 30 days are at 3.36% for Western Alliance Bancorp The simple moving average for the last 20 days is 8.71% for WAL stock, with a simple moving average of 16.53% for the last 200 days.
Analysts’ Opinion of WAL
Many brokerage firms have already submitted their reports for WAL stocks, with Hovde Group repeating the rating for WAL by listing it as a “Outperform.” The predicted price for WAL in the upcoming period, according to Hovde Group is $75 based on the research report published on April 22, 2024 of the current year 2024.
Barclays, on the other hand, stated in their research note that they expect to see WAL reach a price target of $91. The rating they have provided for WAL stocks is “Overweight” according to the report published on March 08th, 2024.
Wells Fargo gave a rating of “Equal Weight” to WAL, setting the target price at $72 in the report published on January 30th of the current year.
WAL Trading at 7.28% from the 50-Day Moving Average
After a stumble in the market that brought WAL to its low price for the period of the last 52 weeks, the company was unable to rebound, for now settling with -9.30% of loss for the given period.
Volatility was left at 3.36%, however, over the last 30 days, the volatility rate increased by 2.70%, as shares surge +10.88% for the moving average over the last 20 days. Over the last 50 days, in opposition, the stock is trading +11.36% upper at present.
During the last 5 trading sessions, WAL rose by +6.24%, which changed the moving average for the period of 200-days by +34.99% in comparison to the 20-day moving average, which settled at $58.91. In addition, Western Alliance Bancorp saw -3.18% in overturn over a single year, with a tendency to cut further losses.
Insider Trading
Reports are indicating that there were more than several insider trading activities at WAL starting from LATTA ROBERT P, who sale 5,370 shares at the price of $56.07 back on Dec 11 ’23. After this action, LATTA ROBERT P now owns 2,996 shares of Western Alliance Bancorp, valued at $301,096 using the latest closing price.
Stock Fundamentals for WAL
Current profitability levels for the company are sitting at:
- 0.47 for the present operating margin
- 0.99 for the gross margin
The net margin for Western Alliance Bancorp stands at 0.22. The total capital return value is set at 0.03. Equity return is now at value 12.96, with 1.02 for asset returns.
Based on Western Alliance Bancorp (WAL), the company’s capital structure generated 0.54 points at debt to capital in total, while cash flow to debt ratio is standing at -0.06. The debt to equity ratio resting at 1.15. The interest coverage ratio of the stock is 1.1.
Currently, EBITDA for the company is 86.5 million with net debt to EBITDA at 7.46. When we switch over and look at the enterprise to sales, we see a ratio of 3.15. The liquidity ratio also appears to be rather interesting for investors as it stands at 0.16.
Conclusion
To put it simply, Western Alliance Bancorp (WAL) has had a better performance in recent times. Analysts have a bullish opinion on the stock, with some rating it as a “buy” and others as a “hold”. It is worth mentioning that the stock is currently trading in close proximity to its 50-day moving average and its 52-week high.
