JPMorgan sees significant growth runway ahead for New York Community Bancorp

JPMorgan upgraded New York Community Bancorp (NYCB) to Overweight from Neutral, raising the stock price target to $16 from $13 in a note to clients on Friday.

Analyst Steven Alexopoulos told investors in a note that with 127 banking teams and new energy at NYCB, the stock’s risk/reward is “very attractive.”

“2Q23 core EPS of $0.47 was above both our forecast (of $0.32) and consensus (of $0.31) with the beat primarily driven by higher revenue than expected,” wrote the analyst.

“With 2Q23 marking the first quarter to include a full quarter of impact from the recently added Signature teams, we now have a better picture of the earnings potential of the combined company, and our 2023-2024 EPS estimates move much higher (in the 15-20% range) post the quarter.”

The analyst explained that with NYCB now a home to a total of 127 private banking teams over 10 cities in NYC and the West Coast, they see a “significant growth runway away ahead for the bank.”

In addition, they see the opportunity to improve the bank’s funding mix by replacing high-cost funding with low-cost core deposit growth.

By Sam Boughedda