Bank Stocks Get Upgrades: Morgan Stanley, UBS
NEW YORK (
) -- Shares of financial stocks
Morgan Stanley
(MS) - Get Report
and
UBS
(UBS) - Get Report
were upgraded by
TheStreet Ratings
on Thursday.
Morgan Stanley
"Morgan Stanley has been on a roll lately, reporting solid Q4 results and chalkingup some early 2012 successes in winning high-profile mandates in both ECM andM&A," Collins Stewart analysts wrote in a report on Wednesday. "Economic indicators in the US have perked up and the panic that gripped European markets in Q4 has abated; both of these should help rebuild investor confidence and client activity levels in Morgan Stanley Global Wealth Management. However, we believe much of this good news is now in the price, and we would expect MS shares to begin performing more in line with the sector."
The bank last month reported a
.
Morgan Stanley was upgraded to a
by
TheStreet Ratings
on Thursday.
Morgan Stanley has an estimated price-to-earnings ratio for 2012 of 8.55; the average among its peers is 8.27.
JPMorgan Chase
(JPM) - Get Report
,
Bank of America
(BAC) - Get Report
and
Citigroup
(C) - Get Report
each have lower forward P/Es of 7.13, 7.54 and 7.29, respectively.
Of the 30 analysts who cover the stock, 15 rated it a hold. Twelve analysts said the stock is a buy and three rated it a sell.
TheStreet Ratings
gives Morgan Stanley a
. The stock closed Wednesday at $20.44 and has risen 35.1% year to date.
UBS
The Swiss bank on Tuesday posted a 76% decrease in fourth-quarter earnings.
"UBS management reiterated its commitment to the previously announced CHF 2bn cost target, stating that 50% of the savings would be realised starting January1st 2012," Bank of America Merrill Lynch analysts wrote in a report Thursday. "Based on our analysis, neither our, nor consensus, forecasts account for CHF 1.0 billion of cost savings in 2012. Adopting management guidance would add roughly 10% to consensus forecasts. We have a more cautious revenue outlook than consensus, which makes the cost saving even more important. We estimate applying the implied management guidance on our cost forecast would add 20-30% to our new 2012-2014 estimates. We aren't convinced UBS will achieve its targeted cost savings, or even that it is the right strategy for UBS."
UBS was upgraded to a
by
TheStreet Ratings
on Thursday.
The company has a forward P/E of 8.3; the average among banks is 12.05. Rival
Credit Suisse
(CS) - Get Report
has a forward P/E of 6.6.
Of the 36 analysts who cover the company, 19 rated it a buy. Fifteen analysts gave UBS a hold rating and 10 analysts considered it a sell.
TheStreet Ratings
gives UBS a
. The stock closed Wednesday at $14.44 and has risen 22.06% year to date.
-- Written by Alexandra Zendrian
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