Piper Jaffray maintained a Neutral rating on Vantiv (NYSE: VNTV), and cut the price target to $53.00 (from $54.00), following the company's 4Q earnings report. VNTV's results beat consensus revenue estimates by ~3% and posted cash EPS of $0.65 vs. consensus at $0.63. The company continues to benefit from its high growth merchant processing channels. However, Piper believes that tougher comps, and greater U.S. macro uncertainty, may limit 2016 upside vs. the high-end of the guidance.

Analyst Jason Deleeuw commented, "VNTV reported solid 4Q results, beating consensus revenue estimates by ~3% and posting cash EPS of $0.65 vs. consensus at $0.63. VNTV continues to benefit from its high growth merchant processing channels as well as Mercurcy cost synergies and the termination of tax receivable agreements (TRA). VNTV’s iPOS channel continues to perform well posting ~20% growth (mid-to-high teens expected for ’16) and the Mercury platform migration to begin benefiting 2Q16. We maintain our ’16 adjusted EPS estimate of $2.60, which is near the high-end of the $2.55-$2.61 guidance range. We believe there are some elements of conservatism in VNTV’s guidance, however, we believe tougher y/y comps and greater U.S. macro uncertainty may limit upside vs. the high-end of the guidance, which keeps us Neutral at the current valuation."

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Shares of Vantiv closed at $48.11 yesterday.