FIS Upgraded As New Strategy Fuels Bullish Guidance, Notches High
Financial technology firm Fidelity National Information Services ( FIS ) (FIS) got an upgrade Wednesday in the wake of its investor day Tuesday, sending the stock briefly to a new high. Analyst Moshe Katri of Sterne Agee CRT lifted his rating to buy from neutral and set his price target at 85, writing that FIS is shifting away from project-based IT to more stable, higher-margin business lines. “In our view, one of the major reasons for the downward rerating of FIS’s valuation which in the past was at par with peers Fiserv ( FISV ) and Jack Henry & Associates ( JKHY ) (both with sticky/high-recurring revenue models) has been the company’s lackluster performance last year, triggered by its weak IT Services business,” Katri wrote in his upgrade note. “We believe the CEO’s message, pointing to exercising more stringent controls over (the) consulting arm, Capco, reflects management’s realization that cross-selling IT services or project-based business has been a major deviation from the company’s traditional model.” Credit Suisse analyst Paul Condra also noted that FIS had issued 2018 guidance above expectations, implying 14% EPS growth each of the next two years. He raised his price target to 76 from 71, though maintained his neutral rating. FIS’s stock hit an all-time high of 74.19 in early trading on the stock market today , though by early afternoon it was down a fraction, near 73.50. The stock broke out of a cup-with-handle base after its Q1 earnings report last week, and is now extended past its buy point. It holds a strong Composite Rating of 96, putting it in the top 4% of stocks.