Circling Back on PNC After Q4 Earnings; Lowering Our FVE to $175 From $180

PNC is one of the larger regional banks in the U.S., has a fairly diversified fee base, and has a national presence, but is concentrated primarily in the East and Midwest. The bank has grown substantially from acquisitions. The bank transformed itself with the integration of the troubled National City (doubling the size of PNC) in 2008, acquired RBC’s U.S. branch network in the Southeast in 2012, and more recently acquired BBVA USA in 2021 (a roughly 25% increase in size). PNC has been successful at organically expanding its customer base, both in commercial banking and in retail. The expanding client base has led to solid loan, deposit, and fee income growth. Selling new products into the formerly underperforming RBC branch network has worked, and PNC now seems poised to repeat this effort with the acquisition of BBVA. The bank is also attempting to grow its Midwest commercial franchise along with retail growth efforts in the same areas where commercial expansion was successful.