Is People’s United Financial Stock a good bet?

People’s United Financial Action (NASDAQ: PBCT) is at about the same level as the low on March 23 of this year, and at the current price of around $ 10 per share, we believe the stock has more to do based on its historic P / E multiples . The bank, which primarily offers retail and commercial banking, has seen its stock hold around $ 10 since the recent low against the S&P which rose around 55%. The stock is well behind the markets as a whole as investors are overly cautious about its loan portfolio due to a negative GDP scenario and higher unemployment driven by the economic slowdown. Additionally, the stock is down 36% from levels seen at the end of 2019.

People’s United Financial stock has partially reached where it was before February’s drop due to the transformation of the coronavirus outbreak into a pandemic. We believe that the company’s stock still has potential and its valuation means that it still has some way to go.

Part of the increase over the past 2 years could be attributed to approximately 27% revenue growth for People’s United Financial from FY2017 to FY2019, which translated into a growth of 57 % of net profit. The higher growth in net income is explained by a slight decrease in non-interest expense as a percentage of revenue, which improved the adjusted net profit margin from 22.2% to 27.5% over the same period.

While the company experienced steady growth in both revenue and profit in fiscal year 2017-19, its P / E multiple declined. We believe the stock is expected to rise significantly despite the potential weakness of a recession triggered by the Covid epidemic. Our dashboard What factors have caused People’s United Financial’s inventory to change 37% between fiscal 2017 and now? has the underlying numbers.

People’s United Financial’s P / E has gone from 17x in fiscal 2017 to nearly 13x in fiscal 2019. While the company’s P / E is just above 8x now, it There is an advantage when the current P / E is compared to levels seen in the last few years – P / E of around 13x at the end of fiscal 2019 and of around 10x at the end of fiscal 2018.

So what is the likely trigger and timing of the upside?

People’s United Financial provides commercial banking, retail banking and wealth management services to individuals, businesses and municipalities. While the company’s earnings have increased in the first and second quarters year over year, its stock price is still down 36% year-to-date. Indeed, the Covid-19 crisis and the economic downturn have significantly increased the risk of default due to negative GDP growth and higher unemployment rate. However, the company increased its provisions for credit losses by approximately 10 times to offset this risk. We believe the stock is likely to rise once the Covid scenario calms down and its customers’ loan repayment capacity improves. In addition, all banks are expected to resume share buyback programs in 2021.

The actual recovery and its timing depend on the wider containment of the spread of the coronavirus. Our dashboard Trends in Covid-19 cases in the United States provides insight into the spread of the pandemic in the United States and contrasts with trends in Brazil and Russia. Following the stimulus from the Fed – which set a floor on fear – the market was willing to “look through” the current period of weakness and take a longer view. With investors focusing their attention on the 2021 results, valuations are becoming important in finding value. Although market sentiment may be fickle, and evidence of a slight uptick in new cases could scare investors again.

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