Contrasting Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) & Plumas Bancorp (NASDAQ:PLBC)

Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) and Plumas Bancorp (NASDAQ:PLBC) are both finance companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, earnings, profitability, dividends, valuation, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Western Alliance Bancorporation and Plumas Bancorp, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Western Alliance Bancorporation	0	5	9	0	2.64
Plumas Bancorp	0	0	4	0	3.00

Western Alliance Bancorporation presently has a consensus target price of $92.93, indicating a potential upside of 18.23%. Plumas Bancorp has a consensus target price of $57.67, indicating a potential upside of 8.38%. Given Western Alliance Bancorporation’s higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Western Alliance Bancorporation is more favorable than Plumas Bancorp.

Profitability

This table compares Western Alliance Bancorporation and Plumas Bancorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Western Alliance Bancorporation	17.03%	13.58%	1.09%
Plumas Bancorp	26.67%	15.16%	1.76%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

79.2% of Western Alliance Bancorporation shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 41.7% of Plumas Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. 2.7% of Western Alliance Bancorporation shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 7.4% of Plumas Bancorp shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Dividends

Western Alliance Bancorporation pays an annual dividend of $1.68 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.1%. Plumas Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.32 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.5%. Western Alliance Bancorporation pays out 19.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Plumas Bancorp pays out 28.0% 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. Western Alliance Bancorporation has increased its dividend for 5 consecutive years and Plumas Bancorp has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Western Alliance Bancorporation and Plumas Bancorp”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Western Alliance Bancorporation	$3.71 billion	2.31	$969.00 million	$8.59	9.15
Plumas Bancorp	$112.17 million	3.31	$29.62 million	$4.72	11.27

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

Risk and Volatility

Western Alliance Bancorporation has a beta of 1.37, meaning that its share price is 37% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Plumas Bancorp has a beta of 0.61, meaning that its share price is 39% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Western Alliance Bancorporation beats Plumas Bancorp on 9 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Western Alliance Bancorporation

Western Alliance Bancorporation operates as the bank holding company for Western Alliance Bank that provides various banking products and related services primarily in Arizona, California, and Nevada. It operates through Commercial and Consumer Related segments. The company offers deposit products, including checking, savings, and money market accounts, as well as fixed-rate and fixed maturity certificates of deposit accounts; demand deposits; and treasury management and residential mortgage products and services. It also provides commercial and industrial loan products, such as working capital lines of credit, loans to technology companies, inventory and accounts receivable lines, mortgage warehouse lines, equipment loans and leases, and other commercial loans; commercial real estate loans, which are secured by multi-family residential properties, professional offices, industrial facilities, retail centers, hotels, and other commercial properties; construction and land development loans for single family and multi-family residential projects, industrial/warehouse properties, office buildings, retail centers, medical office facilities, and residential lot developments; and consumer loans. In addition, the company provides other financial services, such as internet banking, wire transfers, electronic bill payment and presentment, funds transfer and other digital payment offerings, lock box services, courier, and cash management services. Further, the company holds certain investment securities, municipal and non-profit loans, and leases; invests primarily in low-income housing tax credits and small business investment corporations; and holds certain real estate loans and related securities. Western Alliance Bancorporation was founded in 1994 and is headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona.

About Plumas Bancorp

Plumas Bancorp operates as the bank holding company for the Plumas Bank that provides various banking products and services for small and middle market businesses, and individuals in Northeastern California and Northwestern Nevada. The company accepts various deposits, such as checking, money market checking, business sweep, public funds sweep, savings, time deposit, and retirement accounts. Its loan portfolio comprises of term real estate, commercial, and industrial term loans; government-guaranteed and agricultural loans, as well as credit lines; consumer, automobile, and home equity loans; land development and construction loans; and small business administration loans. In addition, the company provides remote deposit, telephone and mobile banking, internet banking with bill-pay options, cashier's check, bank-by-mail, automated teller machine, night depository, safe deposit box, direct deposit, electronic funds transfer, and other customary banking services. Plumas Bancorp was founded in 1980 and is headquartered in Reno, Nevada.