UPDATE: BMO Capital Markets Upgrades FNB Corp., Expects Better Operating Leverage

In a report published Tuesday, analyst Peter Winter of BMO Capital Markets upgraded FNB Corporation FNB from Market Perform to Outperform and also moved price target from $14 to $15. Noted within the report, "We expect better operating leverage in late 2014 and into 2015 as the expense headwinds are largely built into the run rate and all the new hires and acquisitions should be fully integrated. FNB has also been consistently generating above-average mid- to high-single-digit organic loan growth driven by market shares gains. Also of note, FNB's capital raise at the end of October ($58 million in common and $115 million in preferred) strengthened the capital ratios and better positioned the firm to increase its dividend. FNB previous closed at $12.30 and is currently trading at $12.79.