HSBC raises targets on Barclays and RBS, upgrades Lloyds

6th Feb 2017 12:55

(ShareCast News) - It remained to be seen whether the UK had successfully navigated the Brexit storm or if the calm before the storm had lasted longer than initially foreseen, but in any case the implications for UK banks now looked "very different" than they did last summer, HSBC said.To back up their case, analysts Peter Toeman and Robin Down pointed to how long-term rates were now back to their pre-referendum levels - helping to maintain hedge income - and said there was no hint that credit quality had suffered.The direct result of that is that organically generated equity was now available for dividends, instead of being funneled into building common Tier 1 equity.Lloyds had already reached such a point, the investment bank said, as its high levels of revenues and profits per risk weighted assets, when combined, implied underlying dividend growth "well in excess" of 3.0p per share the group was likely to pay out for 2016.Hence HSBC's updated valuation of the lender and decision to bump up its recommendation on its shares from 'Hold' to 'Buy'.In parallel, its target price on Lloyds was hiked from 60p to 75p.Regarding Barclays, Toeman and Down said the sale and disposal of its non-core activities would be "strongly" value accretive.That saw them lift their target on the 'Buy' rated stock from 250p to 260p.Profitability at RBS on the other hand continued to lag that of its peers, so they stood by their 'Sell' recommendation, albeit while at the same time also raising their target from 160p to 210p.