Jefferies Spends Time with Sterling Bancorp (STL); Raises Price Target to $18.50

Jefferies reiterated a Buy rating on Sterling Bancorp (NYSE: STL), and raised the price target to $18.50 (from $18.00), after spending time with management. As a diversified commercial lender with strong loan pipelines and recent team hires, management is very confident in its mid-teens loan growth outlook. STL differs from peers in that the bank can show strong positive operating leverage dynamics without help from interest rates.

Analyst Casey Haire commented, "We spent time with CFO Luis Massiani last week visiting investors. Upbeat message overall with positive commentary on growth prospects, Hudson Valley integration and longer-term efficiency improvement. STL is our favorite smidcap name given several rate-agnostic EPS drivers and its unique potential for multiple expansion (5% P/E discount) and positive estimate revisions (we're 4% above consensus)."

For an analyst ratings summary and ratings history on Sterling Bancorp click here. For more ratings news on Sterling Bancorp click here.

Shares of Sterling Bancorp closed at $16.09 yesterday.

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