Jefferies Has Hold on People's United

Jefferies & Co. is out with a research report on People's United (NASDAQ: PBCT) and it has a Hold rating and a $12 price target on shares.

In a note to clients, Jefferies & Co. writes, "Stable margin, solid loan growth and a big buyback are the highlights of an inline 3Q result. Fundamentals are in excellent shape and we expect PBCT's shareholder-friendly capital management policy to continue, but valuation metrics are steep (15x 2012 EPS) and consensus still looks high to us (we're at $0.80 vs. $0.86), which keeps us at Hold."

Shares of PBCT closed at $12.34 yesterday.