Citigroup's top ideas from here for the next 12 months

Published Thu, Mar 16 20232:26 PM EDTUpdated Thu, Mar 16 20232:31 PM EDT

Citi refreshed its highest conviction ideas for the next 12 months, as the market enters a new period of volatility. The S & P 500 is now up about 2.8% in 2023, through mid-afternoon Thursday, after briefly dipping negative year-to-date during Wednesday's trading session. Meanwhile, the Dow is down 2.9%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq is up 11% year to date. Investors have been rattled by fears of a widespread banking crisis after the failure of Silicon Valley Bank. Financial sector stocks, particularly regional banks, have taken a sharp hit in recent trading sessions. Market turmoil continued after Credit Suisse's largest investor announced that it would not provide additional funding to the beleaguered bank. It has since received $54 billion in support from the Swiss National Bank. Citi highlighted several equity strategies for the coming months, adding four new buy names to its focus list: Targa Resources , Bruker , Criteo , and Comerica . Midstream energy company Targa Resources is the only natural resources company on Citi's focus list. "We see TRGP as the fastest-growing large cap midstream stock," according to analyst Spiro Dounis. He added that "strong cash flow generation allows TRGP to fund growth, de-lever, and return capital," while the stock "trades at a discount to large-cap peers." Dounis set a price target of $95 per share, implying a 39.4% upside from Wednesday's closing price. The natural gas company's shares are down 6.9% year-to-date, but have gained 4.2% during the past 12 months. Citi included several technology and communications stocks on its list: T-Mobile , Liberty SiriusXM , Criteo , and Fortinet . Analyst Ygal Arounian is bullish on online advertising company Criteo, viewing its mix shift toward commerce and retail media as an attractive opportunity. "Retail/Commerce Media has a large [total addressable market] (~$500B) and is expected to see wallet share gains of digital ad dollars. We believe Criteo's leading position within Retail Media and its current valuation provides an attractive risk/reward here," Arounian wrote. Citi set a price target of $44 on the stock, which implies upside of almost 44% from its previous close. To be sure, Arounian also said the stock is a high-risk name, saying that it is vulnerable to a downturn in the broader advertising market and competition within the digital ad sector. "Retail media has become one of the fastest growing sectors within digital advertising and has attracted a lot of competition within the Ad Tech market which could pressure take rates and growth," he said. Bio research tools manufacturer Bruker is another new name on the list. "We view BRKR as having one of the cleanest setups in the Tools space this year driven by its growing backlog (~9 months), order book visibility, and first half weighted guide," said analyst Patrick Donnelly. "We believe BRKR is well equipped to weather a potential economic downturn given its historically large order book and more limited cancellation rate," Donnelly continued, adding that the company has a "strong track record of organic growth beat." Donnelly sees Bruker shares gaining 23.3% from Thursday's close. The stock is up about 7% in 2023 and more than 10% during the past 12 months. Despite the recent concerns surrounding financial stocks, analyst Keith Horowitz is bullish on Comerica shares. "For investors with a constructive economic outlook including higher short-term rates, we see CMA as among the best regional bank plays given they are the largest potential beneficiaries of higher short-term rates as well as improved commercial loan growth," Horowitz said. "We see a path to improved [return on tangible common equity], which should drive continue positive re-rating of the shares." Horowitz sees shares doubling from their Thursday closing price, setting his price target at $90. Comerica shares were up nearly 7% as of Thursday afternoon. But the stock is still down more than 28% year to date, given the recent declines in regional bank stocks. CMA 5D mountain Comerica stock —CNBC's Michael Bloom contributed to this report.