Oppenheimer Upgrading Fiserv (FISV)

Oppenheimer & Co. is upgrading shares of Fiserv, Inc. FISV to Outperform and put a $72 price target on shares. In a note sent to clients, Oppenheimer writes, "Fundamental trends for Fin-tech providers improved in CY10 and, recovering from depressed valuation levels, the group outperformed the S&P500 for the third consecutive year. We believe CY10 marked an inflection point for bank spending and related organic revenue growth within the Fin-tech sector. We expect further growth acceleration during CY11 and beyond. Our confidence broadly reflects prospects for an improving bank spending environment as most of the headwinds that pressured the banking industry in the past 30 months dissipate and bank profitability rapidly improves. Despite improving fundamentals and relatively strong 2010 stock price performance, valuation for the sector remains attractive, in our view, and we anticipate further multiple expansion to coincide with clear indications of accelerating revenue growth. We upgrade FISV to Outperform (from Perform) and establish a $72PT, maintain Outperform rating on FIS ($35PT) and maintain Perform rating on JKHY." Shares of FISV gained 8 cents yesterday to close at $59.01.