Courtesy of Benzinga.
U.S. stocks have surged in the past week on hopes that Congressional Republicans will soon pass their tax reform plan and lower the corporate rate from 35 percent to at or near 20 percent. While many American companies stand to benefit from a lower tax rate, one analyst said a handful of fintech companies are particularly well-positioned.
The Analyst
Baird analyst David Koning reiterated the following ratings and price targets for his top stock picks, (See Koning’s track record here.)
- Outperform and $72 price target for DST Systems, Inc. (NYSE: DST).
- Neutral and $114 price target for Jack Henry & Associates, Inc. (NASDAQ: JKHY).
- Outperform and $78 price target for Total System Services, Inc. (NYSE: TSS).
- Outperform and $146 price target for Fiserv Inc (NASDAQ: FISV).
- Outperform and $108 price target for Fidelity National Information Servcs Inc (NYSE: FIS).
The leading minds in fintech celebrating innovation across the world will gather May 2018 in NYC at the Benzinga Global Fintech Awards! Click here to learn more.
The Thesis
The five stocks mentioned above will likely get at least a 15-percent boost to their EPS from tax reform, Koning said. As a group, fintech stocks are relatively well-positioned versus the rest of the market, the analyst said.
“Financial tech stocks would generally have a greater EPS benefit than the average S&P company, and a much larger EPS benefit than the average technology company (we believe the average S&P company has 20-25 percent reported federal tax rate and would be a 5-percent beneficiary from tax reform),” Koning said.
Each of the five top tax reform picks generate at least 90 percent of their total earnings from within the U.S., according to Baird.
Price Action
So far, Koning’s thesis has played out exactly as expected. The Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE: XLK) is down 2.8 percent in the past week, but each of the five fintech stocks mentioned above is up between 0.2 and 2.5 percent in the same period.
Related Links:
Here’s Where The Senate Tax Bill Goes Now
Your 2017 Benzinga Fintech Award Winners
Latest Ratings for DST
Date | Firm | Action | From | To |
---|---|---|---|---|
Oct 2017 | Baird | Maintains | Outperform | |
Oct 2017 | Morgan Stanley | Maintains | Equal-Weight | |
Jun 2017 | DA Davidson | Initiates Coverage On | Buy |
View More Analyst Ratings for DST
View the Latest Analyst Ratings
Posted-In: Analyst Color Fintech Long Ideas Price Target Politics Reiteration Top Stories Analyst Ratings Best of Benzinga