Western Alliance Bancorporation (WAL) Competitors

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

Is WAL or MTB a better dividend stock?

Western Alliance Bancorporation pays an annual dividend of $1.52 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.7%. M&T Bank pays an annual dividend of $5.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.7%. Western Alliance Bancorporation pays out 23.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. M&T Bank pays out 40.0% 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.

Which has better valuation and earnings, WAL or MTB?

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
Western Alliance Bancorporation	$4.32B	2.29	$722.40M	$6.48	13.83
M&T Bank	$12.75B	2.56	$2.74B	$13.51	14.57

Do analysts rate WAL or MTB?

Western Alliance Bancorporation currently has a consensus target price of $94.31, indicating a potential upside of 5.25%. M&T Bank has a consensus target price of $221.68, indicating a potential upside of 12.59%. Given M&T Bank's higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe M&T Bank is more favorable than Western Alliance Bancorporation.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Western Alliance Bancorporation	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	15 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.94
M&T Bank	1 Sell rating(s)	8 Hold rating(s)	8 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.41

Do insiders and institutionals have more ownership in WAL or MTB?

79.2% of Western Alliance Bancorporation shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 84.7% of M&T Bank shares are held by institutional investors. 2.8% of Western Alliance Bancorporation shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.8% of M&T Bank shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Which has more volatility and risk, WAL or MTB?

Western Alliance Bancorporation has a beta of 1.46, suggesting that its stock price is 46% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, M&T Bank has a beta of 0.79, suggesting that its stock price is 21% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media favor WAL or MTB?

In the previous week, M&T Bank had 36 more articles in the media than Western Alliance Bancorporation. MarketBeat recorded 39 mentions for M&T Bank and 3 mentions for Western Alliance Bancorporation. Western Alliance Bancorporation's average media sentiment score of 0.65 beat M&T Bank's score of 0.64 indicating that Western Alliance Bancorporation is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Western Alliance Bancorporation	1 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
M&T Bank	8 Very Positive mention(s)	6 Positive mention(s)	15 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer WAL or MTB?

Western Alliance Bancorporation received 281 more outperform votes than M&T Bank when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 66.13% of users gave Western Alliance Bancorporation an outperform vote while only 45.93% of users gave M&T Bank an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Western Alliance Bancorporation	Outperform Votes 529 66.13%	Underperform Votes 271 33.88%
M&T Bank	Outperform Votes 248 45.93%	Underperform Votes 292 54.07%

Is WAL or MTB more profitable?

M&T Bank has a net margin of 17.82% compared to Western Alliance Bancorporation's net margin of 14.66%. Western Alliance Bancorporation's return on equity of 13.16% beat M&T Bank's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Western Alliance Bancorporation	14.66%	13.16%	1.03%
M&T Bank	17.82%	9.52%	1.15%

Summary

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