Boston Private Shares Climb On Analyst Upgrades

BOSTON (AP) — Shares of Boston Private Financial Holdings Inc. shot up Friday as analysts upgraded the stock after the company announced it was selling its Florida-based bank.

Boston Private said Thursday that it sold Gibraltar Private Bank & Trust to a group of private investors for $93 million.

The move will improve the company's balance sheet without significantly reducing capital, analysts said.

Its shares rose $1.27, or 24 percent, to $6.66 in early afternoon trading.

Keefe, Bruyette & Woods analyst Christopher McGratty upgraded the stock to "outperform" from "market perform" and raised his price target to $7.50 from $5 a share. He said in an investor note that the sale "represents a potentially game-changing event for the company."

McGratty said the sale of Gibraltar will reduce the Boston Private's assets by about 20 percent. Its credit profile is greatly improved by reducing risky assets, he said. The company now may "refocus on its historically successful investment management business," McGratty said.