Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Upgrades Astoria Financial, Downgrades Flushing Financial

In a report published Thursday, Keefe Bruyette & Woods analyst Matthew Dinneen upgraded

from Market Perform to Outperform, while at the same time downgrading

from Outperform to Market Perform. According to the report, the analysts raised their price target on AF from $13.00 to $17.00 while keeping FFIC's price target at $21.00. “Within our coverage universe, we believe there is still meaningful upside to shares of Astoria Financial (AF), but the upside to shares of Flushing Financial (FFIC) appears limited,” the report said. “Astoria is near the end of its balance sheet repositioning and the company's earnings visibility has become clearer, in our view, and we are upgrading shares of Astoria to Outperform from Market Perform.” Some highlights from the report included: -Raising AF's 2015 EPS estimate from $0.85 to $1.00. -FFIC's downgrade was based on its trades near the analyst's 12-month DCF based price target of $21.00 and the shares of FFIC appear fairly valued. -The coming year is said to be a transitional period for AF as the company's stock valuation is said to improve. AF closed Tuesday at $14.25 with shares trading up 3.04%. FFIC closed Tuesday at $20.38 with shares trading down at 1.55%.