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ERROR: type should be string, got "https://www.barrons.com/articles/bank-stocks-are-good-bets-in-2020-here-are-some-to-pick-and-ones-to-avoid-51578393002\nBank Stocks Are Good Bets in 2020. Here Are Some to Pick — and Ones to Avoid.\nUpdated Jan. 7, 2020 5:30 am ET / Original Jan. 7, 2020 5:03 am ET\nCitigroup stock is a Buy at Goldman Sachs but a Hold at Deutsche Bank. Photograph by Timothy A. Clary/AFP via Getty Images\nAs the country’s biggest banks prepare to report earnings next week, analysts are jockeying to identify the sector’s strongest contenders.\nAnd the good news for investors is there are few bad bets for 2020. Does that mean investors can expect the stunning gains they saw in 2019? Probably not. But market-beating returns are possible if investors pick their spots wisely, according to a review of analyst reports.\n“While our price targets imply less upside heading into 2020 (up about 20%) than 2019 (up about 40%), we believe the U.S. Large-Cap banks continue to have the ability to rise and outperform the market,” Jason Goldberg, analyst at Barclays, wrote.\nAs a sign of Barclay’s conviction in the sector, of the 24 banks it covers, 13 have an Overweight rating, 8 are ranked Equalweight, and 3 have an Underweight rating.\nBank of America (ticker: BAC) was one of the most recent recipients of a Barclay’s upgrade, shifting to Overweight from Equal Weight, as Goldberg credited the bank for “substantial improvements” in its consumer bank. Bank of America is expected to continue to gain market share while keeping costs low and buying back shares, another boon for the stock.\nWells Fargo (WFC), however, slid down to Equal Weight from Overweight, as Goldberg said the bank’s turnaround following its fake-account scandal has likely already been priced in and it will take time for the California-based bank to build momentum.\nOther analysts were also generally bullish on the sector, even when acknowledging that some banks were just better investments than others.\nJPMorgan Chase (JPM), for instance, received a “reluctant” downgrade from Steven Chubak of Wolfe Research. Although management has executed “extraordinarily well” and the stock has a history of outperforming its peers, Chubak said he sees better value in Bank of America and Citigroup (C), given that JPMorgan’s stock-price-multiple premium is at a post-financial-crisis high.\nAnalysts frequently noted the overall strength of the sector amid issuing ratings changes. Even if the U.S. were to enter a recession, banks are likely to stay profitable, thanks to postcrisis regulation, Goldman Sachs analyst Richard Ramsden wrote.\nGoldman Sachs, which weighted Citigroup a Buy, moved the bank to its Americas Conviction List and raised Citigroup’s price target to $88 a share, implying a roughly 10% gain. Citigroup, in Ramsden’s view, trades at a discount to its peers and is well-positioned because it is the least sensitive to interest-rate fluctuations compared with other banks in Goldman’s coverage universe.\nBut not all analysts rank Citigroup well. Deutsche Bank analyst Matt O’Connor downgraded the bank to Hold from Buy, noting that there are no near- or medium-term catalysts to narrow the discount to which it trades against its peers.\nNor was Citigroup alone in getting a Deutsche Bank downgrade. O’Connor moved Morgan Stanley (MS) to Hold from Buy, citing Deutsche Bank’s overall cautious view on the macro economy. O’Connor noted that it is unlikely Morgan Stanley’s trading and investment-banking business will continue to gain market share and its wealth business, a usual bright spot, might see weaker margins as fee pressures continue.\nOf the reports reviewed, Deutsche Bank was decidedly more cautious on the sector, saying that much of the good news is already reflected in stock prices.\n“We think valuations are closer to fair value than it may seem based on historical levels,” O’Connor wrote."