Sterne Agee Has Buy on United Financial Bancorp

Sterne Agee is out with a research report on United Financial Bancorp, Inc. UBNK and it has a Buy rating and a $18 price target on shares. In a note to clients, Sterne Agee writes, "United Financial reported 3Q11 GAAP EPS of $0.20. Adjusting for a securities impairment charge, operating EPS equaled $0.21 and beat our forecast by $0.02. Lower operating expenses accounted for the earnings outperformance. Due to trends in the quarter, we increased our 2011 and 2012 operating EPS estimates to $0.74 and $0.77 from $0.72 and $0.76, respectively. Our 2013 operating EPS estimate remains unchanged at $0.79. Our $18 price target equates to 131% of TBV and a 6.0% total deposit premium." Shares of UBNK are down 5 cents to $15.57.