Research Firms Initiating Coverage on Vantiv

Listed below is today's coverage on the initiation of Vantiv VNTV at Benzinga: Deutsche Bank Initiates Vantiv at Buy, $26 PT: Deutsche Bank said, "We believe VNTV is well positioned to benefit from strong growth in card payments, driven by secular migration to electronic payments and improvements in consumer spending. As VNTV gains market share through new client-wins, expands its SMB segment through new bank referrals and value-added resellers (VAR), and anniversaries its FI losses, we expect it to deliver at least 10% revenue growth in the near-to-mid term at record operating margins." Morgan Stanley Initiates Vantiv with Equal-weight, $24 PT: Morgan Stanley commented in the report, "We think VNTV has a very attractive business model which compares favorably to its peers on a number of measures. That said, with the stock trading at 19.7x F12 EPS (the high end of the comp group), and a still-evolving public track record, we believe the current risk/reward is balanced." JP Morgan Initiates Vantiv at Overweight, $26 PT: JP Morgan said, "Vantiv is a high-quality scale processor with premium revenue growth and industry-high margins rooted by its original owner Fifth Third, with a favorable channel/client mix and simplified tech platform – attributes we view as essential to gaining profitable share and producing solid mid-teens organic EPS growth." Jefferies & Company Initiates Vantiv at Hold, $24 PT: Jefferies commented in the report, "While well-positioned VNTV leverages its scale in long, sticky contracts, driving above-average margins, its lack of international presence and the intense competition in merchant processing are risks. We are positive on fundamentals, but at 17.0x C13 EPS, valuation looks full. Jefferies was a co-manager on VNTV's recent IPO." Citigroup Initiates Vantiv at Neutral, $24 PT: Citi mentioned, "There is a lot we like about Vantiv (see "Investment Positives" below). However, VNTV's P/E multiple of 19.6x and EV/EBITDA of 12x our 2012 estimates (vs. the peer group average of 19x and 11x) seems to reflect these positives. The obvious questions are: Is a premium valuation warranted? If so, how much? How much upside is there to estimates? In our view, a modest premium is justified but we wouldn't reach for MA/V-type valuations here – in other words, the current valuation has little upside." All of Benzinga's Analyst Ratings news can be viewed here.