New York Community Bancorp Inc.
NYCB,
stock rose 1.9% in premarket trade on Tuesday as it drew an upgrade to buy from hold from Jefferies analysts, with a price target of $11 per share. Analyst Casey Haire said Jefferies likes NYCB’s balance sheet positioning given dramatic improvement in its liquidity profile from its pending acquisition of Signature Bank assets. The FDIC-brokered acquisition of Signature Bank will also provide NYCB with “increased scale and diversification,” Haire said. Currently valued at a discount to its peers, Jefferies expects the bank to “close the multiple gap.” Jefferies also highlighted the bank’s expected dividend yield of about 8%, which it describes as “attractive.”
