J.P. Morgan Downgraded To Neutral From Buy Rating By UBS Analysts

J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. was downgraded on Thursday to a neutral rating from a buy by analysts at UBS. Analysts maintained the bank's price target of $64 a share on earnings estimates of $6.40 a share for 2016. "We continue to believe J.P. Morgan has an outstanding franchise and is a very well-run bank," said Brennan Hawkins, analyst at UBS. As the bank's franchise has remained intact, the firm has less upside from a recovery story than its peers, said analysts. Additionally, J.P. Morgan may benefit less from rising rates due to the composition and nature of its deposits. "We also believe J.P. Morgan's greater reliance on wholesale funding creates an elevated risk of downside from increasing capital requirements," said Hawkins. "Lastly, we acknowledge that while the firm may be worth more broken up, management is unlikely to pull the trigger anytime soon." Given the secular pressures on the business plus the nearly insatiable appetite for fines by regulators, analysts are not convinced an improving environment can help the bank. J.P. Morgan shares fell 0.2% in early trading and were up 1.32% year-to-date.