UBS Sees Capital Returns Plans By Big Banks 'Largely Better Than Expected'

The post-Brexit attitude toward U.S. bank stocks took a sharp 180-degree turn this week. Shares of the “Big Four” U.S. banks were all down double-digits following the Brexit vote that threatened to rock global financial markets.

However, shares of Wells Fargo & Co WFC, JPMorgan Chase & Co. JPM, Bank of America Corp BAC and Citigroup Inc C are all up between 4.5 and 9.7 percent since Monday.

One of the biggest reasons for investor confidence is the results of the annual Federal Reserve stress test on the 33 largest U.S. banks. All of the banks met the minimum capital requirements to pass the stress test, and UBS analyst Brennan Hawken said the CCAR results for most banks were better than expected as well.

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“Citi’s dividend increase was particularly strong (16c per share vs our 7c est) while BofA’s increase to 7.5 cents per share was lighter than our 11.25 cent forecast,” Hawken explained.

While dividend announcements were a mixed bag, share buybacks were good news.

“Buybacks were stronger than expected (ex NTRS) at all of the firms that disclose the number, which we expect to be viewed positively given the discount to BV where much of the group has traded recently,” Hawken added.

UBS maintains its bullish outlook for bank stocks based on their attractive valuations.

Disclosure: The author is long C and BAC.