CADE - Davidson upgrades BancorpSouth Bank to Buy on brighter outlook

Ergin Yalcin/E+ via Getty Images Kevin Fitzsimmons of D.A. Davidson & Co. upgrades BancorpSouth (BXS) shares from Neutral to Buy following a ~10% decline from a month ago. The post-deal valuation with Cadence Bancorporation (CADE) "presents an intriguing entry point and improved risk-return profile, and we suspect investors may begin to give the stock a fresh look in coming months," according to the ratings report. Fitzsimmons suggests that the deal implies a stronger growth profile and deal-related EPS accretion, while "effectively takes further deals off the table until 2023." BancorpSouth's Buy rating disagrees with the Bearish quant rating (which assigns poor grades to momentum, revisions, and profitability) and agrees with the bullish Wall Street rating (3 Very Bullish, 1 Bullish, 6 Neutral). BSX fell 0.4%. On a year-over-year basis, BXS's total return (+31.2%) is lower than SPY (+37.57%) and IAT (+63.12%).

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Davidson upgrades BancorpSouth Bank to Buy on brighter outlook