Morgan Stanley slashes price targets on lenders
Morgan Stanley lowered its rating on European banks to ‘cautious’ from ‘in-line’ yesterday and slashed its price target on Greece’s two largest lenders, according to press reports. The New York-based investment bank cut its price target on Greece’s largest lender, National Bank of Greece (NBG), to 15 euros from 27 euros. NBG shares eased 0.07 percent to 13.54 euros on the Athens bourse yesterday. Greek bank shares, which have given up 38 percent of their value over the last three months, have come under selling pressure recently as investors fret over profit growth in a recessionary environment and the impact rising bond yields have on funding costs. Morgan Stanley also cut its price target on EFG Eurobank to 6.50 euros from 13 euros.
