UPDATE: Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Upgrades Farmers Capital Bank Corp. to Outperform, Raises PT on Partial Preferred Repayment and Regulatory "Upgrade"

In a report published Tuesday, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods analyst Stephen Scouten upgraded the rating on Farmers Capital Bank Corp. FFKT from Market Perform to Outperform, and raised the price target from $22.00 to $26.00. In the report, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods noted, “We are upgrading the shares of FFKT to Outperform after its announcement of (1) the partial repayment of one-third of the banks preferred capital (former auctioned TARP) and (2) another regulatory ‘upgrade' - taking their consent order to an informal MOU. We are increasing our 2014/5 estimates on the lower preferred dividend cost as well as lower expected regulatory and credit costs and raising our PT to $26 (from $22); which is 12.9x our increased 2015 EPS. Additionally, we are transferring coverage of the lead analyst to Stephen Scouten from Catherine Mealor.” Farmers Capital Bank Corp. closed on Monday at $21.50.