AllianceBernstein upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Goldman Sachs

Goldman Sachs upgraded AllianceBernstein to Buy from Neutral with a price target of $36.75, down from $40.80. The stock is down about 12% year-to-date, which is in the same range as other diversified asset managers in spite of the company having “much stronger fundamentals”, the analyst tells investors in a research note. Goldman Sachs contends that the market is under appreciating AllianceBernstein’s industry-leading organic fee growth prospects and its differentiated operating margin expansion, resulting in a more durable EPS growth outlook over the next 2 years. At enterprise value to expected 2024 EBITDA multiple of just under 7.5-times, which is a discount of more than 20% relative to historical multiple, the valuation is out-of-sync with its organic growth, the firm added.