UBS recommends that investors looking to find a bargain stock in this downturn should look into Citizens Financial Group. Analyst Erika Najarian explained that CFG, with market multiples of 1.2x 1Q22, 1.0x Ye22 TBV and 7.0x ‘23EEPS, suggests that the stock has the best pricing during a recession within our region universe. “CFG is not a ‘clean’ loan-growth-plus-rising-rates story, and this has been heavily discounted in the stock.” Najarian upgraded to neutral and said that it deserves “a little bit more credit for the transformation of its deposit base after its IPO.” This performance should not be considered inferior to other peers she stated. Najarian stated that CFG has not been given enough credit for turning a poor franchise into a bank comparable with regional peers. This is reflected in the persistent valuation discount to peer banks. CFG is now much more likely to achieve a cumulative beta of 35% in this rate cycle, according to our estimates and in-line with peers, compared to 43% which was the worst among regionals in last year’s cycle. The firm also raised the price target to $54, which means shares can rise 42% over the next twelve months from Friday’s closing. Citizens Financial shares have fallen 19.7% and 3.7% respectively this year, even though interest rates are rising. This phenomenon would normally benefit regional banks because they can charge higher for loans. Recent investors have started to sell financial stocks because of fears about recession. — CNBC’s Michael Bloom contributed reporting