Citigroup: Bernanke's Money Printing Winner

The shares trade for 0.7 times their reported Sept. 30 tangible book value of $52.70, and for 8.1 times the consensus 2013 earnings estimate of $4.64 a share, among analysts polled by Thomson Reuters. The consensus 2014 EPS estimate is $5.11.

Credit Suisse analyst Moshe Orenbuch on Wednesday reiterated his "Outperform" rating for Citigroup, with a $48 price target, saying that the massive expense cuts announced last week, including 84 branch closings and the elimination of 11,000 jobs, wouldn't hurt the company's strategy for growing revenue in emerging markets.

Orenbuch estimated that out of the 11,000 positions being cut by Citigroup, "about 53% or 5,825 of the total will be derived from Operations & Technology," and said that the company's estimate that its annual revenue would decline by only $300 million as a result of the cuts was "further evidence that the reductions will largely center on non-client facing positions, limiting the negative impact to Citi's top line."

Credit Suisse estimates that Citigroup will earn $5.10 a share in 2013, with EPS rising to $5.70 in 2014.

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BB&T's Margin Squeeze

Shares of BB&T (BBT) of Winston-Salem, N.C., rose over 1% to close at $28.85. The shares have now returned 18% year-to-date, following a 2% decline during 2011.

The shares trade for 1.8 times tangible book value, according to Thomson Reuters Bank Insight, and for 9.9 times the consensus 2013 EPS estimate of $2.93. The consensus 2014 EPS estimate is $3.18.

Based on a quarterly payout of 20 cents, the shares have a dividend yield of 2.77%.

After his firm hosted a series of investor meetings with BB&T CFO Daryl Bible, Deutsche Bank analyst Matt O'Connor on Wednesday reiterated his neutral rating for the company's shares, with a price target of $34, saying that the stock was "off 15% (underperforming the group by 700bps) since the recent Oct 5 peak," through Tuesday's close, reflecting "estimate reductions (we've cut our 2013e by 10%) due to likely lower than previously expected net interest income (lower rates, slower loan growth and run off of purchase accounting accretion)."

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