Morgan Stanley lifted its target price for CITIC Securities (CITICS)(06030) to HK$18.48 from HK$17.15 and upgraded its rating to "overweight" from "equal-weight".
The research house likes CITICS' well-balanced business drivers and solid fundamentals. However, considering it is currently trading at 1.0x 2020 P/B (versus the peer average of 0.8x), the upside is less significant compared to some other peers.
With recent regulatory announcements, Morgan expects CITICS to benefit the most in the near term. Removal of QFII quota is a positive catalyst for the group overall, especially beneficial for CITICS, which is stronger in institutional business; activating foreign
investments through QFII in addition to Stock Connect (which has become a more popular channel than QFII prior to the announcement).