Downgrades
Raymond James analyst Michael Rose downgraded McKinney, Texas-based Independent Bank Group Inc. following the announcement of its merger of equals with fellow Texas-based Texas Capital Bancshares.
The analyst views the financial and strategic merits of the deal positively, but he prefers to sit on the sidelines due to questions surrounding business line and cultural integration, he wrote.
The analyst downgraded the company's stock rating to "market perform" from "outperform." He maintained his 2019 EPS estimate of $5.06 but raised his 2020 estimate to $5.48 from $5.00.
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RBC Capital Markets analyst Jon Arfstrom downgraded Dallas-based Texas Capital Bancshares Inc. following its announced merger of equals with Independent Bank Group.
Arfstrom said the positive reaction of the stock price to the announcement as well as the length of time before "synergies are realized" drove his decision to downgrade Texas Capital to "sector perform" from "outperform."
The analyst lowered his 2019 EPS estimate to $6.07 from $6.18 and his 2020 EPS estimate to $5.65 from $5.80.
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Keefe Bruyette & Woods analysts downgraded shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co., writing that estimates cannot support the current valuation.
The analysts still view the company's shares as "best in class" after being a strong performer in 2019, but investors should own stocks when consensus earnings estimates have potential to rise, they wrote.
The analysts downgraded the company's stock rating to "market perform" from "outperform." Their EPS estimates are $10.13 for 2019 and $10.55 for 2020.
Upgrade
KBW analysts upgraded shares of Boston-based State Street Corp., driven primarily by higher expectations for capital return and balance sheet growth.
The analysts also wrote that they expect asset servicing fee rates to decline less than expected and, in turn, drive consensus estimates higher.
The analysts upgraded the company's stock rating to "outperform" from "market perform." Their EPS estimates are $5.85 for 2019 and $6.40 for 2020.