Sterne Agee Maintains Neutral on First Interstate Bancsystem

Sterne Agee is out with its report today on First Interstate Bancsystem

, maintaining Neutral. In a note to clients, Sterne Agee writes, "Despite lower operating income prospects, we expect EPS to improve due to lower loan loss provisioning than last quarter. Overall we are positive given the potential for credit to be more positive than expectations, but note peers have more capital with similar valuations and better near-term loan growth prospects." At the time of posting, shares of FIBK were trading at $14.48, down 1.16% from Friday's close.