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 stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, community ranking, media sentiment, analyst recommendations, dividends, profitability, valuation, risk and earnings.

Do insiders and institutionals believe in MTB or WAL?

84.7% of M&T Bank shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 79.2% of Western Alliance Bancorporation shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.5% of M&T Bank shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 2.8% of Western Alliance Bancorporation shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Which has more risk & volatility, 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 1.3, suggesting that its share price is 30% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media favor MTB or WAL?

In the previous week, M&T Bank had 18 more articles in the media than Western Alliance Bancorporation. MarketBeat recorded 35 mentions for M&T Bank and 17 mentions for Western Alliance Bancorporation. Western Alliance Bancorporation's average media sentiment score of 1.08 beat M&T Bank's score of 0.86 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	16 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	10 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Western Alliance Bancorporation	11 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	5 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do analysts recommend MTB or WAL?

M&T Bank currently has a consensus target price of $212.53, indicating a potential upside of 17.73%. Western Alliance Bancorporation has a consensus target price of $97.77, indicating a potential upside of 35.50%. Given Western Alliance Bancorporation's stronger consensus rating and higher possible 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)	7 Hold rating(s)	13 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.57
Western Alliance Bancorporation	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	11 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00

Which has higher 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	3.12	$2.59B	$14.93	12.09
Western Alliance Bancorporation	$3.21B	2.48	$787.70M	$7.29	9.90

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 3.0%. 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. Western Alliance Bancorporation has increased its dividend for 5 consecutive years.

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%

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer MTB or WAL?

Western Alliance Bancorporation received 279 more outperform votes than M&T Bank when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 65.97% of users gave Western Alliance Bancorporation an outperform vote while only 46.26% of users gave M&T Bank an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
M&T Bank	Outperform Votes 260 46.26%	Underperform Votes 302 53.74%
Western Alliance Bancorporation	Outperform Votes 539 65.97%	Underperform Votes 278 34.03%

Summary

M&T Bank and Western Alliance Bancorporation tied by winning 11 of the 22 factors compared between the two stocks.