A pedestrian wearing a protective mask passes in front of Rocket Companies Inc. signage displayed on The Chase Towers building, home to Quicken Loans, in Detroit, Michigan
Emily Elconin/Bloomberg
Rocket shares were gliding upward in premarket trading Wednesday after the mortgage lender received a double upgrade from J.P. Morgan.
Analyst Richard Shane elevated Rocket (ticker: RKT
) to Overweight from Underweight, while decreasing his price target to $15, down from $17.50. The stock is Shane’s favorite name going into the fourth quarter earnings season.
“Our Overweight rating is based upon our view that RKT is a clear industry leader and that shares now offer a much more compelling risk/reward profile,” Shane wrote Wednesday.
The company has developed an “integrated, end-to-end technology platform” that is bringing scale and efficiency to a fragmented market, Shane added.
Shane foresees Rocket will continue to grow its market share as it invests in its direct-to-consumer services and the industry enters a period of consolidation. The analyst upped his earnings per share estimate for the 2023 fiscal year to $1.69, up from $1.58.
Last December, Rocket announced it would acquire TrueBill, a personal finance app, for $1.28 billion in a bid to boost recurring revenue and add customers.
Despite the tailwinds, Rocket could still fall victim to increasing competition in the mortgage space, and a recent spike in interest rates that might hinder its growth, the analyst said.
Rocket stock was up 3.54% to $13.44 in premarket trading on Wednesday.
Write to Sabrina Escobar at [email protected]
