Nomura Securities Maintains a 'Neutral' on Morgan Stanley (MS); Building Equity Via Equities

Nomura Securities maintains a 'Neutral' on Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) price target raised from $18 to $20.

Analyst, Glenn Schorr, said, "Per share loss of $0.14 vs. our/consensus estimates of -$0.53/-$0.57. MS posted strong equity performance (-5% q/q ex DVA, peers down 20% on avg), solid investment banking (+2% q/q), a $600mm CVA release, and tight non-comp expense control (-6% q/q). Wealth management posted OK results ($6bn net new money, 8% pretax margin) and asset management saw $14.5bn of inflows. While investors probably would have liked to have seen a decline in full-year comp expense, Morgan’s reported number was meaningfully impacted by prior-period deferred rewards (mgmt indicated 2011 was likely the high point for this issue). We left our 2012 estimate of $1.55 unchanged (we think consensus could move a little closer to our number), but our price target goes to $20 (based on 0.7x our forward four-quarter tangible book value estimate)."

For an analyst ratings summary and ratings history on Morgan Stanley click here. For more ratings news on Morgan Stanley click here.

Shares of Morgan Stanley closed at $18.28 yesterday.

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