Western Alliance price target raised to $66 from $61 at UBS

UBS analyst Brody Preston raised the firm’s price target on Western Alliance to $66 from $61 and keeps a Buy rating on the shares. The bar for Western Alliance was set relatively low for Q2 EPS when it came to deposit growth, mix shift and deposit costs, and all three passed by a wide margin, the analyst tells investors in a research note. The firm assumes a modestly larger balance sheet driven by FY23 deposit growth that matches the $2B/quarter guide for 2H23, and a 3bps improvement in the NIM due to a more favorable deposit cost cadence.