Maxim Hikes First Republic Bank Estimates On New Events, Disclosures; Reiterates Buy

In a report published Thursday, Maxim Group analyst Michael Diana maintained a Buy rating on

, with a price target of $70. First Republic Bank issued $100 million of preferred stock and received a $9.1 million special dividend from the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco during 2Q15. This is expected to boost the company's earnings in 2015. The EPS estimates for 2Q15 and 2015 have been raised from $0.76 to $0.81 and from $3.07 to $3.09, respectively. "Our target price equates to 17.5x our estimate of $4.00 for normalized EPS. This is in line with other best-in-class mid-cap banks," analyst Michael Diana mentioned. "Over the next four quarters, we expect: (1) stock price appreciation of 9.1% (to our target price); and (2) a dividend yield of 0.9%, which should result in an estimated 12-month total return of 10%, and should outperform the KRX index," Diana added.