UPDATE: Sterne Agee Initiates Coverage on Financial Institutions with Buy Rating, $24 PT on Attractive Current Levels

In a report published Wednesday, Sterne Agee analyst Matthew Breese initiated coverage on Financial Institutions FISI with a Buy rating and $24.00 price target. In the report, Sterne Agee noted, “We believe shares of FISI are attractive at current levels given solid fundamentals metrics, a new management team, and the bank's outlook. The company, while having comparable financial metrics to peers, trades at a ~35 percentage point discount. In the wake of First Niagara's acquisition of HSBC, over the next year we believe management aims to take market share while seeking out acquisitions. As this strategy plays out we believe a valuation closer to peers is warranted.” Financial Institutions closed on Tuesday at $19.20.