UPDATE: Oppenheimer Downgrades Citizens Republic Bancorp; Removes PT

According to a research report published this morning, Oppenheimer has downgraded Citizens Republic Bancorp

to a Perform rating, and removes its $15 PT. Oppenheimer commented in the report, "Citizens Republic has climbed out of the deep hole resulting from the real estate heavy acquisition of Republic Bank in '06 and the recessionary environment in Michigan. Profitability has returned and should continue. Issues with regulators have been resolved. Restoring the $300M DTA will boost tangible book value by ~$7.60/sh and was the big catalyst behind our recent positive view on CRBC. With the stock up 95% over the past year, we have decided to lower our rating to Perform and rescind our $15 price target. Citizens still holds $300M of TARP, making it difficult for us to raise our price target much above the current price." Citizens Republic Bancorp closed Friday at $17.17.