Analyst Upgrades: Bank of America, Citigroup, JPMorgan

Oppenheimer upwardly revising its ratings on a number of big financial firms today, including Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC), Citigroup Inc (NYSE:C), and JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM). Here's a quick look at today's bullish brokerage notes on BAC, C, and JPM.

• BAC -- which has seen optimism emerge from all corners of the Street this week -- saw its price target lifted to $19 from $18 at Oppenheimer, which also underscored its "outperform" rating on the shares. However, with Bank of America Corp sporting an impressive year-over-year advance of 17.1%, there's still plenty of room for the brokerage bunch to up their outlooks. At present, 45% of covering analysts maintain a "hold" or "strong sell" suggestion toward BAC, and the consensus 12-month price target of $18.11 stands at a slim 9% premium to the stock's current perch at $16.60.


• Since taking a strong bounce off its 200-day moving average last Wednesday, Oct. 15, C has rallied nearly 7% -- and reclaimed the round-number $50 mark in the process. Oppenheimer thinks there's more room to run, and raised its price target on the shares to $67 from $64 -- while underlining its "outperform" rating -- representing expected upside of 30.3% to Citigroup Inc's present price of $51.41. The stock could get an additional boost, should option bears capitulate to C's recent uptrend. At the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), the equity's 10-day put/call volume ratio of 0.53 ranks in the 72nd annual percentile, meaning puts have been bought to open over calls at a faster-than-usual clip of late.


• JPM has also been in rebound mode since unveiling a poorly received earnings report last week, with the shares up 4.6% from their Oct. 15 close at $55.53 to trade at $58.06. As such, Oppenheimer boosted its price target on the stock to $72 from $69 -- record-high territory for JPM -- and reiterated its "outperform" rating. On the sentiment front, option traders have taken the bearish route, as evidenced by JPM's 10-day ISE/CBOE/PHLX put/call volume ratio of 1.16, which ranks higher than 92% of similar readings taken in the past year. Outside of the options pits, though, short interest accounts for less than 1% of JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s available float, and would take just over two days to cover, at JPM's average daily pace of trading.