UPDATE: Bank of America Initiates Coverage on IBERIABANK Corporation with Buy Rating, $66 PT as Improving ROTE Drives Valuation Higher

In a report published Wednesday, Bank of America analyst Ebrahim H. Poonawala initiated coverage on

with a Buy rating and $66.00 price target. In the report, Bank of America noted, “We initiate coverage on Lafayette, Louisiana based IBERIABANK (IBKC) with a Buy rating and $66 price objective. At $13bn in assets, IBKC is the largest Louisiana based bank, with a footprint ranging from Texas to Florida. Over the last five years, IBKC has more than doubled its assets driven by five FDIC assisted acquisitions and continuing market share gains as the lender capitalized on its balance sheet strength during the housing downturn. We believe IBKC's acquisitive growth strategy causes bears to argue that management will enter an expensive deal, which would hurt stock performance. However, in our view management has demonstrated its ability to stay disciplined on M&A pricing over the last few years. Moreover, we think investors might be receptive to bank M&A, with shares of recent buyers up a median 4% in the month following deal announcements vs zero for the KBW Regional bank index.” IBERIABANK Corporation closed on Tuesday at $54.25.