WAL Stock Alert: Why JPMorgan Just Upgraded Western Alliance Shares

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  • Western Alliance (WAL) stock is rising alongside an analyst upgrade.
  • JPMorgan analyst Steven Alexopoulos upgraded shares to an “overweight” rating.
  • The analyst maintained a $45 price target for the stock.
WAL Stock - WAL Stock Alert: Why JPMorgan Just Upgraded Western Alliance Shares

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Western Alliance (NYSE:WAL) stock is climbing higher on Friday after the regional bank’s shares were upgraded by JPMorgan.

Analyst Steven Alexopoulos is behind today’s upgrade, which bumped WAL stock up from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating. The analyst also maintained a $45 price target for shares. This represents a potential upside of 147% from yesterday’s close.

To put this rating and price prediction in perspective, the analyst consensus rating for WAL stock is “moderate buy.” That also comes with a consensus price target of $59.68 per share.

What’s Behind The WAL Stock Upgrade?

JPMorgan is actually upgrading a few regional bank stocks on Friday. That includes Comerica (NYSE:CMA) and Zions Bancorporation (NASDAQ:ZION). This news comes as investors react to banks reporting earnings recently. The results weren’t as bad as some experts had predicted.

Here’s what Alexopoulos told clients in a note obtained by CNBC:

“We see a changing landscape, including the potential for regulatory changes (such as with FDIC insurance levels) or stock trading (such as a ban on short selling) or for the Fed to pivot (in line with market expectations). In the meantime, we see the favorable updates coming from select banks (such as WAL) that deposit balances have remained stable (or increased) helping to counterbalance very negative sentiment.”

That note has helped inspire heavy trading of WAL stock today with some 10 million shares changing hands. This is already above its daily average trading volume of around 9.2 million shares. WAL stock is up 29.6% as of Friday morning.

There’s even more stock market news traders can read about below!

We’ve got all of the most recent stock market news traders need to know about on Friday! A few examples include why shares of Carvana (NYSE:CVNA), AMC Entertainment (NYSE:AMC) and Clearfield (NASDAQ:CLFD) stock are moving today. You can find out all about these matters at the following links!

More Friday Stock Market News

On the date of publication, William White did not hold (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.


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