Analyst action: Healthways, Pinnacle, Synovus
Posted on October 26, 2009 at 12:46 pm
After Healthways’ big gain following its Q3 report, Stifel Nicolaus analyst Tom Carroll has lowered his rating on the disease manager (Ticker: HWAY) to ‘hold’ from ‘buy.’ The valuation-based call is diametrically opposed to that of Art Henderson at Jefferies, who on Friday upgraded Healthways and raised his target to $20. So far, Carroll is winning: Healthways is down 7 percent today.
At Zacks Investment Research, shares of Pinnacle Financial are now on the ‘exclusive’ list of stocks investors should sell or avoid in the coming months. Pinnacle (Ticker: PNFP) last week reported a larger-than-expected loss.
And in related regional banking news, Wunderlich analyst Kevin Reynolds has some strong words on Synovus Financial Group, the parent of The Bank of Nashville. Reynolds has dropped Synovus to a ’sell’ and slapped a price target of $1.50 on the shares — half the price at the open today. The company last week posted a loss of more than $400 million and its stock (Ticker: SNV) has fallen more than 60 percent this year.
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Analyst action: Cracker Barrel, regional banks
Posted on April 20, 2009 at 1:58 pmMKM Partners analyst Steve Anderson has lifted his rating for Cracker Barrel shares (Ticker: CBRL) to ‘buy’ from ‘neutral.’ He’s also raised his price target from $24 to a whopping $41, a good 25 percent above the stock’s level today, which is itself almost double its price of two months ago. Anderson last month said CBRL is set for a strong couple of quarters.
The recent run in regional bank stocks has analysts at Sterne Agee saying we should cool our jets a bit. They’ve downgraded shares of First Horizon (Ticker: FHN) and SunTrust (Ticker: STI) to ‘neutral’ from ‘buy.’ Still, their price targets of $14 and $20, respectively, are about 30 percent above the stocks’ current levels.
And staying in regional bank country, Wunderlich Securities has trimmed its price target for Green Bankshares (Ticker: GRNB) from $11 to $9.5.
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Wunderlich hikes Pinnacle target
Posted on March 26, 2009 at 2:19 pmFrom a report issued today:
Pinnacle Financial Partners (PNFP - Buy Rated, $29 price target) - Raising our price target on shares of Pinnacle Financial Partners from $26 to $29, reflecting higher industry valuations on TBV/share and our confidence in the company’s ability to grow TBV/share over the coming years. Our new price target approximates 2.2 times our 2009 TBV/share estimate of $13.31, a well-deserved premium to regional and community banks in our research universe.
Pinnacle shares (Ticker: PNFP) are up almost 8 percent today, but still below where they spent much of the second half of ‘08.
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Analyst action: First Horizon, LP
Posted on at 9:04 amThe banking team at Wunderlich Securities has lifted its price targets for a number of regional banks in the South and Southeast. Among them is First Horizon, which now has a $14 target. First Horizon shares (Ticker: FHN) are up slightly this morning and are trading around $10.60.
Over at Scotia Capital, analysts have lowered their opinion of Louisiana-Pacific shares (Ticker: LPX) from ’sector perform’ to ‘underperform.’
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Analyst action: Pinnacle, AmSurg, regional banks
Posted on February 23, 2009 at 7:41 am
Two local stocks that have outperformed the S&P over the past year will start the week backed by upgrades. Wunderlich Securities’ Kevin Reynolds has raised his rating of Pinnacle Financial Partners (Ticker: PNFP) from ‘hold’ to ‘buy.’ Reynolds, who began covering Pinnacle early this month, has kept his price target at $26.
In the same vein, AmSurg shares (Ticker: AMSG) have been raised to ‘outperform’ at both RBC Capital and Robert W. Baird. Bairdm which last month began covering the shares with a ‘neutral’ rating, has however lowered its price target from $27 to $24.
Also getting an upgrade this morning are shares of Synovus Financial, the parent of The Bank of Nashville. Citigroup has raised its rating from ‘hold’ to ‘buy,’ although it did lower its price target on the stock (Ticker: SNV) to $5. Citigroup wasn’t so kind to other regional bank stocks, though, lowering a group that includes Regions Financial (Ticker: RF) from ‘buy’ to ‘hold.’
Go to the Journal’s site for more ratings changes.
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Broker: Pinnacle ‘best in class’ but shares staying put
Posted on February 4, 2009 at 3:02 pmMemphis-based Wunderlich Securities has begun covering shares of Pinnacle Financial Partners with a ‘hold’ rating. Analyst Kevin Reynolds says Pinnacle (Ticker: PNFP) “exemplifies the best characteristics of a high-quality community bank,” but expects it to earn $1.35 per share this year, below the consensus of $1.38.
While Pinnacle’s ability to continue posting strong results is likely to get more difficult in a severe recession, we are highly confident in management’s ability to prudently navigate the choppy waters of economic uncertainty while still posting results that surpass that of its southern community bank peers.
Reynolds has a $26 price target on Pinnacle, which closed at $23.37 this afternoon.
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