The 3 stocks continuing their prolonged slides

First Republic Bank, PacWest Bancorp, Western Alliance Bancorporation are at the top of this list of down trending stocks.

Leading equity indices in the US declined as Dow Jones lost 1.19% and ended the session at 31,862. S&P 500 was down 1.1% before closing the session at 3,916.64.

What is a downtrend?

The perceived tendency of a price to move in a downward direction over time. A downtrend describes the price movement of a continously depreciative financial asset over a particular time frame. In a downtrend, each successive low and peak is lower than the ones found earlier in the trend. The downtrend is therefore composed of lower swing lows and lower swing highs.

| First Republic Bank | 81.31% ($88.95) depreciation over 7 days ($12.71 per day average)

After setting a $22.3 – $30 range, First Republic Bank closed the day 32.8% lower at $23.03. During Friday's session, First Republic Bank toiled and struggled for upward momentum before closing at $23.03. By the close, the the regional full-service bank suffered a $11.24 or 32.8% loss. Daily trading volume (139.67 million shares) increased, making up 1,300% of the 21-day average (10.72 million). First Republic Bank disclosed a quarterly dividend of 27 cents per share on Friday, January 13th that was paid on Thursday, February 9th to all shareholders of record up until Thursday, January 26th. Based on current prices, the company's decision thereby provides First Republic Bank investors with an annual dividend yield of 4.69%.

| PacWest Bancorp | continues a 12 day decline; crashes 18.95% Friday

After setting a $9.05 – $10.67 range, PacWest Bancorp closed the day 18.95% lower at $9.28. During Friday's session, PacWest Bancorp toiled and struggled for upward momentum before closing at $9.28. By the close, the the bank holding company suffered a $2.17 or 18.95% loss. Daily trading volume (38.61 million shares) was higher than the current multiday average of 6.90 million. Based on current prices, PacWest Bancorp shareholders are currently earning an annual dividend yield of 10.78% after the company distributed a quarterly dividend of 25 cents per share for all eligible shareholders as of Wednesday, February 15th. The most recent payment was made on Tuesday, February 28th.

During Friday's session, Western Alliance Bancorporation toiled and struggled for upward momentum before closing at $31.32. By the close, the the US bank suffered a $5.59 or 15.14% loss. After setting a $30 – $35.38 range, Western Alliance Bancorporation closed the day 15.14% lower at $31.32. Daily trading volume (23.92 million shares) increased, making up 497% of the 21-day average (4.82 million).

The company has a market cap of $3.43 billion with an average daily volume of 4.82 million shares. After hitting an important low of $26.12 approximately 6 days ago, the US bank has bounced back 41.31% since. So far this year, it has been under-performing the Nasdaq by 53.59%. Pointing downwards for around a month. Western Alliance Bancorporation expected revenue of $724.29 million with an EPS of $2.67.