UPDATE: Oppenheimer Upgrades CIT Group to Outperform on Expected Growth

In a report published Wednesday, Oppenheimer analyst Chris Kotowski upgraded the rating on CIT Group

from Perform to Outperform, and named a $54.00 price target. In the report, Kotowski noted, “We initiated coverage of CIT with a neutral rating last September (9/5 at $38.18) because while we felt management had made all the right strategic moves, in particular refinancing all its high-cost debt and launching a low-cost deposit-taking platform, Street expectations for core earnings and a significant near-term capital return were probably too aggressive. The stock has lagged the group and is now one of a relatively few still trading at tangible book value. Moreover, we believe the current TBV of $40.35 is understated by nearly $8 per share because of a $1.6B valuation allowance against the DTA. We expect TBV will grow to about $54 by YE14 via earnings and recapture of the valuation allowance.” CIT Group closed on Tuesday at $40.88.