Jefferies stays selective on Nordic banks with Nordea as its top pick
BUZZ-Jefferies stays selective on Nordic banks with Nordea as its top pick ** Jefferies stays selective on Nordic banks, saying Sweden's recovery supports higher earnings but not necessarily higher valuations, given the sector's roughly 20% premium to EU peers
** In its view, the recovery is becoming more broad based, and defence spending, AI-related investment and infrastructure projects are emerging as important growth drivers
** "While the Riksbank held rates in September, they signalled a more hawkish rate path with a November hike looking probable and potentially 1-2 hikes in H1 2027," it says
** The brokerage keeps Nordea NDAFI.HE as its only "buy" with a marginal TP hike to €20.60 as it continues to see scope for further re-rating in the bank due to its improving ROTE profile and greater leverage to the Swedish recovery
** It remains cautious on Handelsbanken SHBa.ST due to its lending exposure to commercial real estate companies, and on Swedbank SWEDa.ST and SEB SEBa.ST on valuation grounds
COMPANY | NEW RATING | OLD RATING | NEW PT | OLD PT |
Handelsbanken | underperform | unchanged | SEK 125 | SEK 121 |
SEB | hold | unchanged | SEK 220 | SEK 205 |
Swedbank | hold | unchanged | SEK 395 | SEK 360 |
Nordea | buy | unchanged | €20.60 | €20.10 |
DNB | hold | unchanged | NOK 320 | NOK 319 |
(Reporting by Jagoda Darlak)