PacWest Bancorp has withstood large withdrawals in deposits, and the regional bank stock is now set up for a rebound, according to Piper Sander. Analyst Matthew Clark reiterated his overweight rating on the stock in a Wednesday evening note, saying the company appeared to be on solid footing despite recent deposit outflows. “We continue to believe PACW can make it to the other side of this liquidity crunch with its cash position exceeding uninsured deposits, its [tier 1 capital] not materially impacted, and avoiding a dilutive raise,” the note said. PacWest was one of several regional banks that saw deposits pulled by customers in the aftermath of the failure of Silicon Valley Bank. Shares of PacWest dropped 17% to $10.12 per share on Wednesday after the company’s latest update, where it showed that it had lost more than $6 billion in deposits since March 9. Most of the outflows appear to have come from the firm’s venture banking business. The stock is down more than 60% month to date. PACW 1M mountain PacWest’s stock has dropped sharply since the failure of SVB. The company also said Wednesday that deposits have stabilized and that it had decided against a capital raise. Piper Sandler has a price target of $33 per share for PacWest, which is more than 200% above where the stock closed on Wednesday. To be sure, there will be some earnings impact from the deposit outflows, Clark wrote. The stock was trading above $40 per share a year ago. “Now that deposits are down to $27B, we believe it’s fair to say that PACW’s balance sheet will likely be a lot smaller in the coming quarters as it eventually unwinds its excess liquidity position. We do not think PACW will necessarily have to raise dilutive capital as it deliberately shrinks the balance sheet, but it remains a risk to what the earnings power of PACW ultimately looks like on the other side,” the note said. — CNBC’s Michael Bloom contributed to this report.
