Sterne Agee Believes Brookline Will Become A Sell, Downgrades To Neutral

Sterne Agee has published a research report on Brookline Bancorp BRKL and has downgraded the company to Neutral. In the report, Sterne Agee writes "We are downgrading the shares to Neutral from Buy based on recent outperformance and what we view as a full valuation. Over the last quarter the shares advanced 12% (total return) and outperformed our Northeast Bank & Thrift group (+8%) and the SNL Bank & Thrift Group (+9%). We believe the shares are fairly valued at 19x our 2012 estimate and 1.5x pro forma tangible book value ($7.55 p/s). Fundamentally, the story remains on track with earnings projected to grow 11% in 2011 and 2012 and ROA expected to improve to 1.00% - 1.10% over the next several quarters. Credit quality remains pristine with NPAs of 0.25% of assets. The company does not have material upside to “normalized” earnings with overall credit costs quite modest at 0.15% of loans in 2011, compared to 0.16% in 2010." Brookline Bancorp closed yesterday at $11.19.