First Republic Bank Downgraded by BMO Capital Markets

In a report published Tuesday, analyst Lana Chan of BMO Capital Markets downgrades First Republic Bank FRC to Market Perform from Outperform and increases price target to $55 from $53. Chan noted in the report, "In addition to the richer valuation, we are also concerned about net interest margin pressure for FRC as pricing competition for jumbo mortgages has intensified in the fourth quarter." FRC closed Monday at $51.32 and is currently trading down at $50.98.