Cullen/Frost price target raised to $130 from $127 at JPMorgan

JPMorgan analyst Steven Alexopoulos raised the firm’s price target on Cullen/Frost to $130 from $127 and keeps an Overweight rating on the shares. The firm says that while regional bank stocks have rallied 5% since the December Federal Reserve meeting, it remains “very bullish on the group with there still being significant further upside potential in regional bank stocks.” Fed Chair Jerome Powell turning more dovish “widened the runway for a potential soft landing,” the analyst tells investors in a research note. While this is positive for credit as well as for loan growth potential for banks, with the forward curve now pricing in five 25-basis point rate cuts in 2024, the prospect of the steepening of the yield curve is a “strong positive catalyst” for bank stock valuations over the near term, contends JPMorgan.