Western Alliance Bancorporation (WAL) Competitors

M&T Bank (NYSE:MTB) and Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their media sentiment, institutional ownership, risk, community ranking, dividends, analyst recommendations, profitability, earnings and valuation.

Do analysts rate MTB or WAL?

M&T Bank presently has a consensus price target of $215.97, suggesting a potential upside of 36.38%. Western Alliance Bancorporation has a consensus price target of $96.40, suggesting a potential upside of 51.03%. Given Western Alliance Bancorporation's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Western Alliance Bancorporation is more favorable than M&T Bank.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
M&T Bank	1 Sell rating(s)	8 Hold rating(s)	8 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.41
Western Alliance Bancorporation	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	14 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.93

Is MTB or WAL more profitable?

M&T Bank has a net margin of 19.24% compared to Western Alliance Bancorporation's net margin of 15.49%. Western Alliance Bancorporation's return on equity of 13.14% beat M&T Bank's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
M&T Bank	19.24%	10.12%	1.25%
Western Alliance Bancorporation	15.49%	13.14%	1.01%

Which has more risk & volatility, MTB or WAL?

M&T Bank has a beta of 0.58, meaning that its stock price is 42% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Western Alliance Bancorporation has a beta of 1.29, meaning that its stock price is 29% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media favor MTB or WAL?

In the previous week, M&T Bank had 16 more articles in the media than Western Alliance Bancorporation. MarketBeat recorded 39 mentions for M&T Bank and 23 mentions for Western Alliance Bancorporation. M&T Bank's average media sentiment score of 0.92 beat Western Alliance Bancorporation's score of 0.85 indicating that M&T Bank is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
M&T Bank	22 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	9 Neutral mention(s)	4 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Western Alliance Bancorporation	13 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	5 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is MTB or WAL a better dividend stock?

M&T Bank pays an annual dividend of $5.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.4%. Western Alliance Bancorporation pays an annual dividend of $1.52 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.4%. M&T Bank pays out 36.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Western Alliance Bancorporation pays out 21.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years.

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in MTB or WAL?

Western Alliance Bancorporation received 282 more outperform votes than M&T Bank when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 65.88% of users gave Western Alliance Bancorporation an outperform vote while only 45.80% of users gave M&T Bank an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
M&T Bank	Outperform Votes 251 45.80%	Underperform Votes 297 54.20%
Western Alliance Bancorporation	Outperform Votes 533 65.88%	Underperform Votes 276 34.12%

Do institutionals and insiders hold more shares of MTB or WAL?

84.7% of M&T Bank shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 79.2% of Western Alliance Bancorporation shares are held by institutional investors. 0.5% of M&T Bank shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 2.8% of Western Alliance Bancorporation shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Which has preferable valuation & earnings, MTB or WAL?

M&T Bank has higher revenue and earnings than Western Alliance Bancorporation. Western Alliance Bancorporation is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than M&T Bank, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
M&T Bank	$9.23B	2.82	$2.59B	$14.63	10.82
Western Alliance Bancorporation	$3.16B	2.23	$787.70M	$7.10	8.99

Summary

M&T Bank beats Western Alliance Bancorporation on 11 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.