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 companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, media sentiment, community ranking, institutional ownership, valuation, earnings, risk, profitability and dividends.

Which has better earnings and valuation, 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	$9.30B	3.10	$2.59B	$14.93	11.74
Western Alliance Bancorporation	$3.21B	2.51	$787.70M	$7.29	9.98

Do analysts recommend MTB or WAL?

M&T Bank currently has a consensus price target of $208.24, suggesting a potential upside of 18.80%. Western Alliance Bancorporation has a consensus price target of $96.62, suggesting a potential upside of 32.75%. 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)	10 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.47
Western Alliance Bancorporation	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	12 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.92

Does the MarketBeat Community favor MTB or WAL?

Western Alliance Bancorporation received 280 more outperform votes than M&T Bank when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 66.01% of users gave Western Alliance Bancorporation an outperform vote while only 46.04% of users gave M&T Bank an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
M&T Bank	Outperform Votes 256 46.04%	Underperform Votes 300 53.96%
Western Alliance Bancorporation	Outperform Votes 536 66.01%	Underperform Votes 276 33.99%

Which has more volatility and risk, MTB or WAL?

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

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 3.1%. Western Alliance Bancorporation pays an annual dividend of $1.52 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.1%. M&T Bank pays out 36.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Western Alliance Bancorporation pays out 20.9% 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 media favor MTB or WAL?

In the previous week, Western Alliance Bancorporation had 7 more articles in the media than M&T Bank. MarketBeat recorded 22 mentions for Western Alliance Bancorporation and 15 mentions for M&T Bank. Western Alliance Bancorporation's average media sentiment score of 1.44 beat M&T Bank's score of 1.39 indicating that Western Alliance Bancorporation is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
M&T Bank	11 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Western Alliance Bancorporation	17 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

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%

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

Summary

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