Source : investing, 24/10/2024, Thursday
Piper Sandler Financial Services on Thursday raised its SY Bancorp ( NASDAQ:SYBT) price target to $69.00, up from the previous $65.50.
while maintaining a neutral rating for the stock. The company analyst cited SY Bancorp’s strong performance in the third quarter and expressed a more optimistic outlook on the bank’s potential to achieve superior operating leverage next year..
SY Bancorp’s outlook will likely hinge on organic balance sheet growth, averaging a single-digit ratio.
additional expansion of net interest margin (NIM) expected in the fourth quarter of 2024 and the first quarter of 2025.
with the potential for continued expansion into the second quarter and second half of 2025. The analyst also noted the continued strong discipline in costs of the company and expected fee income to grow by a low to medium single-digit ratio..
The credit quality of a financial institution is expected to remain relatively benign compared to industry standards. Despite the positive outlook and recognition of SY Bancorp as a top-tier long-term investment due to its various attributes.
Piper Sandler has not changed its neutral rating..
This decision is based on the current characteristic multipliers that stocks are trading with.
This suggests that a more constructive position could emerge if a pullback occurs in the relative valuation of SY Bancorp.
Piper Sandler revised its earnings per share (EPS) estimates for the fourth quarter of 2024 and full fiscal year 2025 for SY Bancorp.
raising them to $1.01 and $4.05, representing increases of 3% and 7%, respectively. This adjustment reflects expectations of higher net interest income (NII) and net interest (NIM), and balance sheet growth. Furthermore, the company provided an earnings per share estimate for 2026 of $4.25.
The adjusted target price of $69.00 represents an increase of $3.50 and is based on 17.0 times the company’s estimate of 2025 earnings. This assessment is in line with the multiplicity of SY Bancorp’s high-performing peers, which are 16.7x.
