Bank of America Singled Out, Downgraded by Atlantic

On Monday, Atlantic Equities downgrades shares of Bank of America BAC from Overweight to Neutral and lowered the price target from $20 to $18.50. Shares closed down 1.08 percent to $17.37 in Monday's trading. The downgrade was due to poor stress-test results, softness in mortgage revenue, and higher legal costs. Atlantic cut earnings per share estimates for investment banks, with Bank of America's EPS cut ranking in the middle of the pack. However, the Atlantic note also identified Wells Fargo WFC and US Bancorp USB as a “simple and safe” way to play rising U.S. interest rates. Atlantic maintained an Overweight rating on PNC Financial Services PNC and J.P. Morgan JPM.