UPDATE: Bank of America Downgrades Banco Santander Brazil to Neutral on Reduced EPS Outlook

Bank of America lowers its rating on Banco Santander Brazil BSBR from Buy to Neutral and reduced its price objective from $20 to $18. Bank of America commented, "Following Santander Brasil's soft 2Q12 results we reduce our estimates for 2012 and 2013 by 10% and 11%, respectively. We forecast lower EPS mainly due to higher provisions, which was 2Q12's main burden. As a result, we lower our price objective by 10% to R$18 and downgrade the stock to Neutral from Buy. We also believe that the difficult scenario in the euro zone and the rising correlation with SAN SM reinforce our view that short-term upside to SANB11 is likely limited." Banco Santander Brazil closed at $7.84 on Thursday.