East West Bancorp price target raised to $91 from $85 at Citi

Citi analyst Benjamin Gerlinger raised the firm’s price target on East West Bancorp to $91 from $85 and keeps a Buy rating on the shares. The analyst adjusted price targets in the regional bank space as part of a Q1 earnings preview. Throughout the quarter, the pivot from roughly six to three Federal Reserve rate cuts has weighed on overall sentiment for the space, the analyst tells investors in a research note. However, the firm believes the market is missing the profitability potential in this modestly higher-for-longer environment. Today’s discounted valuations should ramp once commercial real estate concerns “dissipate with rate cut realities,” says Citi. It believes banks “can climb the wall of worry this summer when rate cut assumptions become rate cut realities.”