Monday’s analyst calls: JPMorgan Chase gets downgraded, consulting stock is a buy
(This is CNBC Pro’s live coverage of Monday’s analyst calls and Wall Street chatter. Please refresh every 20-30 minutes to view the latest posts.) A banking giant and a consulting company were among the stocks being talked about by analysts on Monday. Morgan Stanley downgraded JPMorgan Chase to equal weight from overweight. Meanwhile, TD Cowen raised its rating on Accenture to buy from hold. Check out the latest calls and chatter below. All times ET. 6 a.m.: Piper Sandler upgrades Amerant Bancorp, says shares can rally nearly 29% Florida-based bank Amerant Bancorp’s recent capital raise has positioned the stock for steady improvement, according to Piper Sandler. Amerant on Thursday priced a $165 million gross capital raise at $19 per share, issuing roughly 8.7 million shares. With that, analyst Stephen Scouten upgraded Amerant to overweight from neutral and raised his price target by 50 cents to $25.60. That suggests the stock — which is down 16.5% year to date — can jump 29.2% over the next year. “We are upgrading shares to Overweight based on the attractive risk/reward dynamics in the shares post the raise,” Scouten said in a note, also lifting his 2025 and 2026 earnings per share targets for the bank. “AMTB is now armed with ample capital to grow rapidly within its Florida markets as it has now moved through the last stage of its multi-year transformation and into an execution stage.” — Pia Singh 5:50 a.m.: Morgan Stanley downgrades JPMorgan Chase to equal weight JPMorgan Chase is among the worst-positioned for rate cuts through the end of 2025, according to Morgan Stanley. Analyst Betsy Graseck downgraded the bank to equal weight from overweight, forecasting very little net interest margin expansion at the bank over the near term. Her $224 price target implies 6.4% potential upside for the stock, which has gained 23.8% this year. JPM YTD mountain JPM year to date “JPM management has consistently reminded the Street that they are asset sensitive and over-earning on [net interest income],” Graseck said about JPMorgan shares in a Monday note. “We see more room for positive [net interest margin] surprises elsewhere in our coverage, model negative operating leverage next year and are taking some chips off the table after outperformance.” Graseck also expects the bank to deliver roughly -3% operating leverage next year, which is the most negative among its large-cap banks coverage. The analyst said that a faster pace of interest rate cuts is generally positive for NIM at midcap banks, while being more mixed for large cap banks. Lower rates are a positive for capital markets revenues, particularly benefitting large-cap banks, she added. — Pia Singh 5:50 a.m.: TD Cowen upgrades Accenture Investors should buy shares of Accenture as the company’s recovery gains steam, according to TD Cowen. Analyst Bryan Bergin upgraded the consulting giant to buy from hold. He also raised his price target on shares to $400 from $321, implying upside of 14.4% from Friday’s close. “ACN reinforced the demand stabilization theme & initial FY25 guide is appropriately positioned for positive revisions,” Bergin wrote. “Gen AI traction, and potential demand tailwinds connected to Fed rate cuts that should be supportive of CY25 IT budgets & tech multiples” “At a higher level, our upgrade is a call on a directional improvement in the Services sector — with ACN serving as a vehicle for many investors to gain sector exposure — and progress across multiple areas of ACN’s business,” he said. Accenture shares are flat year to date. However, they have popped more than 13% over the past three months. ACN 3M mountain ACN 3-month chart — Fred Imbert
