The Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) share price is edging ever so slightly higher to $19.77 on Wednesday morning.
That's despite the market sinking and the banking giant being the subject of a less than positive broker note.
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What is the broker saying?
According to a note out of Jefferies, its analysts have retained their hold rating but cut their price target on the Westpac share price by 16% to $18.15.
This implies potential downside of 8% for investors over the next 12 months from current levels.
Jefferies made the move on the belief that consensus estimates could be wide of the mark.
This is due to a combination of the treatment of $1 billion notable item loss on the bank's Life Insurance divestment and growing risks from competition for deposits and inflation.
The broker fears that the latter could have a big impact on Australia's oldest bank's $8 billion FY 2024 cost base target. In addition, its analysts have suggested that Westpac needs a large cultural reset instead of a short-term cost reset strategy.
Is anyone positive on the Westpac share price?
The good news is that there are a couple of brokers that are positive on the Westpac share price.
One of those is Citi, which late last month retained its buy rating and $29.00 price target on the bank's shares. This implies potential upside of almost 47% for investors over the next 12 months.
But it gets better. With Citi forecasting a fully franked dividend of $1.55 per share in FY 2023, a very generous yield of 7.8% could be awaiting investors if the broker is on the money with its recommendation.
Elsewhere, last week, Morgan Stanley put an overweight rating and more modest price target of $22.30 on Westpac's shares. This implies 13% upside from current levels.
