Keefe Bruyette says own Renasant shares into 2025

Keefe Bruyette analyst Catherine Mealor recommends investors own Renasant (RNST) into 2025 and names the stock a “Holiday Opportunity.” The firm keeps an Outperform rating on the name with a $45 price target. The First Bancshares (FBMS) deal will help drive profitability improvement and solidifies Renasant’s “best-in-class” balance sheet with manageable commercial real estate, “strong” liquidity, and high levels of capital to leverage for growth, the analyst tells investors in a research note. Keefe is also attracted to the stock’s relative value and believes the underperformance versus other deal stocks “presents a compelling way to play the ‘buy the buyers’ theme into 2025.”