Why This Old National Bancorp Analyst Is Turning Bullish

Cost savings from Old National Bancorp’s (NASDAQ: ONB) deal to merge with First Midwest Bancorp should be accretive to the bottom line “following the systems conversion in July,” according to Stephens.

The Old National Bancorp Analyst: Terry McEvoy upgraded Old National Bancorp from Equal-Weight to Overweight while establishing a price target of $19.

The Old National Bancorp Takeaways: The stock has lost around 15% year to date, which is surprising given the first-quarter results and “management's positive tone around the deal and financial outlook on the conference call,” McEvoy said in the upgrade note.

“Near-term loan growth should be solid as pipelines were up ~20% at the end of 1Q22 vs. the prior quarter,” the analyst added.

“Our initial concerns around commercial banker attrition in Chicago were overstated,” McEvoy wrote. “Given the company's M&A track record, we have a high level of conviction in Old National's ability to hit the cost savings goal ($109),” he added.

ONB Price Action: Shares of Old National Bancorp were trading 0.45% higher at $15.49 Friday afternoon, according to Benzinga Pro.