UPDATE: CLSA Upgrades BB&T Corporation

Earlier today, CLSA upgraded shares of BB&T Corporation BBT from Sell to Outperform and raised the price target from $33 to $45. The analysts at CLSA see the difficulties BB&T faced in 2013 receding as we move further into 2014 due to improved operating leverage and performance as it begins to receive benefits from its recent investments into IT. As an additional note, the CLSA team is looking for the company's capital return through dividends and buybacks to more than double in 2015 to ~75 percent from 31 percent in 2014.