Wunderlich Maintains Buy on Pacwest Bancorp (PACW)

Wunderlich is out with its report today on Pacwest Bancorp PACW, maintaining Buy. In a note to clients, Wunderlich writes, "We maintain our Buy rating on shares of PacWest Bancorp as well as our price target of $26. PACW returned to profitability in 1Q11, posting results that easily exceeded consensus and were better than even we expected, as EPS of $0.29 exceeded consensus by $0.12 and our estimate by $0.17. Inside the numbers, credit costs improved as NPLs, NCOs and provision all declined significantly versus the prior quarter. The solid results in 1Q provide support for the continuing credit recovery story, and bottom-line results should continue to improve over the next 12 to 24 months." Shares of PACW closed Wednesday at $21.72, up 3.08% from Tuesday's close.