New York Community Bancorp shares are “too cheap” and can jump 50% from here, according to UBS. Analyst Brody Preston assumed coverage of the stock with a buy rating, saying it’s positioned well for a lower interest rate environment because of its deposit mix and fee income. The stock was rated neutral previously. “Given our above consensus earnings outlook and the current valuation, we believe the risk/reward skews to the upside and see room for NYCB to re-rate higher as it beats expectations,” Preston said in a Wednesday note. NYCB 5D mountain NY Community Bancorp shares 5-day NY Community Bancorp shares are down more than 24% this year. They fell more than 12% and 14% this and last week, respectively, as bank stocks got pummeled in the wake of the Silicon Valley Bank failure. Regardless, the analyst’s $10 price target, lowered from $10.50 previously, assumes shares can run on for another 54% from Tuesday’s close. NY Community Bancorp shares are down 1% in Wednesday premarket trading. The analyst said NY Community Bancorp is a name in which he is above consensus expectations on 2024 earnings per share estimates, given the bank’s deposit mix, that could benefit from rate cuts. “Our above consensus estimates are driven by: 1) our better than consensus NIB mix outlook (2024E of 20.1% vs. consensus of 15.6%), 2) the eight quarter-point cuts to Fed Funds we are baking into estimates from 4Q23-4Q24, and 3) our expectations for higher mortgage related revenue items, in particular loan fees/charges and loan administration income, which we view as overlooked/misunderstood,” Preston wrote. “Additionally, NYCB is trading at a steep discount at ~5x our 2024E EPS, and ~75% of the industry’s earnings multiple, both ~1.0-2.0 SDs below longer-term pro forma averages (average of NYCB/FBC),” Preston added. —CNBC’s Michael Bloom contributed to this report.
