Shares of PacWest Bancorp PACW shot up 16.1% toward a three-week high in premarket trading Tuesday, and helped fuel a broader rally for the regional bank sector. PacWest’s stock extends the recent surge, including Monday’s 19.6% jump after the bank unveiled a plan to sell $2.6 billion worth of loans, and a 49.9% run up over the past four sessions. D.A. Davidson analyst Gary Tenner reiterated his neutral rating on the stock but boosted his price target by 167%, to $8 from $3. Tenner said the loans sale furthers the bank’s progress in refocusing on its core, community bank business, “and away from non-core, non-deposit national transactions.” The SPDR S&P Regional Banking exchange-traded fund KRE rose 0.8% ahead of Tuesday’s open, also toward a three-week high. Among the ETF’s more-active components, shares of Western Alliance Bancorp WAL climbed 3.9%, of First Horizon Corp. FHN advanced 3.1% and of Zions Bancorporation ZION tacked on 3.0%.
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