UPDATE: J.P. Morgan Downgrades Northern Trust Following Weak 2Q EPS

In a report published Thursday, J.P. Morgan analyst Vivek Juneja downgraded Northern Trust NTRS from Neutral to Underweight, and lowered the price target from $58.50 to $55.50.

In the report, J.P. Morgan noted, “We are lowering our rating on Northern Trust to Underweight relative to its trust banks peers for two reasons: 1) higher expense run rate and consequently, lower earnings; and 2) stretched valuation – at current price, implied P/E multiple of 17.2x '14E EPS is above its 10yr historical average of 15.6x and the 4x-5x P/E premium to peers is also above average. Northern seems to be facing relatively more headwinds than peers and has delivered inconsistent performance over the past two years which, in our opinion, does not warrant a historical premium despite its very attractive PFS franchise.”

Northern Trust closed on Wednesday at $59.41.