Bank of America Downgrade Parade Now Includes Citigroup
NEW YORK (
) --
Bank of America
(BAC) - Get Report
was downgraded to "neutral" from "buy" by Citigroup on Tuesday, following the recent run-up in the stock.
"At current levels the risk/reward tradeoff for
Bank of America is relatively balanced in the near term. Longer term, we believe BAC still offers attractive value as the company addresses its legacy issues, which should drive down the perceived risk in the stock," reads the note from analyst Keith Horowitz
Horowitz argues the 48.38% rally in Bank of America's stock year to date "reflects the market's increased comfort with its capital position." However, he now believes "investor focus will shift to earnings, which have been weak."
Horowitz adds that he "struggle
s to find value," amid large cap banks, given their recent rally.
"The recent move in the group has been driven by multiple expansion as the market has gotten more comfortable with US economic outlook and is less concerned about Europe, but we think at these levels one needs to see positive EPS revisions to get the stocks to work," Horowitz writes. His only remaining "buy" recommendations are on
JPMorgan Chase
(JPM) - Get Report
and
Goldman Sachs
(GS) - Get Report
.
Horowitz's downgrade to Bank of America follows
by Portales analyst Charles Peabody.
--
Written by Dan Freed in New York
.
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Disclosure: TheStreet's editorial policy prohibits staff editors, reporters and analysts from holding positions in any individual stocks.
