J.P. Morgan Resumes Coverage on Banks

In a research report published this morning, J.P. Morgan has resumed coverage on several banks. According to J.P. Morgan, “Strong trading and mortgage origination revenues have been drivers of strong bank stock performance in 1Q12 and should drive earnings upside. A key concern is earnings at banks with softer loan growth and net interest margin drop in 1Q12. The decline in loans in 1Q seems seasonal and exacerbated by a very strong rise in debt capital markets. However, loan syndication volumes rose strongly in March which bodes well for recovery in C&I loan growth. Credit card loan decline qoq was the key driver of decline in loans per Federal Reserve data but the yoy decline in these loans has improved over the past few quarters. Equity underwriting activity also rose very sharply in March, the highest monthly volume in 12 months.” J.P. Morgan now maintains the following: PNC Financial

, Overweight, $76 PT, currently trading at $62.35. BB&T

, Neutral, $33 PT, currently trading at $30.45. Regions Financial

, Neutral, $7.50 PT, currently trading at $6.12.