Wells (WFC) (BAC) (C) (JPM) Ordered to Reimburse Homeowners

Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC), Bank of America (NYSE:BAC), Citigroup (NYSE:C) and JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM) were among 15 banks ordered to reimburse homeowners who were wrongfully foreclosed upon. Two services were among those ordered to reimburse the victims.

The lenders were also ordered by the Federal Reserve, Office of Thrift Supervision and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to hire auditors to ensure other foreclosures in 2009 and 2010 were properly done.

Other lenders picked out by the agencies include , Ally Financial Inc., Aurora Bank, Citibank, EverBank, HSBC (NYSE:HBC), MetLife Bank, OneWest Bank, PNC (NYSE:PNC), Sovereign Bank, SunTrust Banks (NYSE:STI) and U.S. Bank, and the service providers Lender Processing Services and MERSCORP.

Citigroup (C), GE (GE) Targeted by Environmental Groups over Mining Deals

In a world of scarce resources and growing energy needs, radical environmental groups like Sierra Club and Rainforest Action apparently have nothing better to do than attempt to smear companies like Citigroup (NYSE:C) and GE Capital (NYSE:GE) over financing so-called "environmentally destructive projects."

Their rhetoric and tactic of calling something "environmentally destructive" an attempt to end the debate as if the conclusions of these elitest organizations has some type of sway beyond others.

Who cares what these groups offer up as what are essentially report cards on their way of looking at the world? Just because the weakened and increasingly irrelevant mainstream media is in bed with these radical groups and reports their bile as if it is some type of holy proclamation, doesn't deter from the fact that extracting resources from the earth is a good thing, regardless of what the earth worshippers say.

As to the attacks on Citigroup and General Electric, this is in reference to the alleged financing of "mountaintop removal projects" in the U.S. central Appalachia region, which provides thousands of jobs to residents in the area.

The environmentalists claim that since January 2010, Bank of America (NYSE:BAC), Citigroup, Credit Suisse (NYSE:CS), Deutsche Bank (NYSE:DB), GE Capital, JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM), Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS), PNC (NYSE:PNC), UBS (NYSE:UBS) and Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) provided over $2.5 billion in loans and bonds to companies that conduct mountain top removal,

Our response is: keep up the good work. We need the valuable energy source, which is far from being depleted or rejected around the world, contrary to attempts to spin it that way by the media.

What we need to do is start to investigate these environmental groups to see how they have so much time on their hands and who are financing them.

Banking Stocks (BAC) (C) (JPM) (CMA) Crumble as Nikkei Descends

Banking stocks like Bank of America (NYSE:BAC), Citigroup (NYSE:C), Comerica (NYSE:CMA), Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS), PNC Financial (NYSE:PNC), and Zions Bancorporation (NASDAQ:ZION) were all trading down today as the Nikkei Stock Average fell in response to another explosion at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant.

The KBW Bank Index (BKX) was at $51.46, down $0.66, or 1.27 percent, as of 12:32 PM EST.

Zions was trading at $22.56, down $0.54, or 2.34 percent. Citigroup was trading at $4.4350, down $0.1050, or 2.31 percent. Bank of America was at $13.95, falling $0.28, or 1.97 percent. Comerica was down to $37.30, falling $1.00, or 2.61 percent. PNC was at $61.52, down $1.04, or 1.66 percent. Northern Trust was down $49.84, dropping $0.71, or 1.40 percent.

JPMorgan (JPM), PNC (PNC), Wells Fargo (WFC), US Bancorp (USB), Expected to Boost Dividends

With the approaching date of March 20 being the day the U.S. government will reveal which of the 19 banks that received TARP money will be allowed to increase dividends, among those expected to be released are JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM), PNC (NYSE:PNC), Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) and US Bancorp (NYSE:USB).

Consequenlty, the following day, March 21, shareholders and investors believe there will be major announcements from the above-listed banks concerning dividend increases.

Expectations are the banks will want to move quickly to gain advantage over their peers in order to attract more investment; especially over those who won't be allowed to offer or boost dividends, which will seriously put them at a disadvantage among certain investor groups.

PNC Financial (NYSE:PNC) Has No Short-Term Catalyst

Saying PNC Financial (NYSE:PNC) has no short-term catalyst, UBS doesn't see the stock getting a boost in the near term.

UBS says, "We had assigned the S/T Buy rating in anticipation of better revs this qtr. PNC did beat our rev ests, but higher “clean-up” exps and chargeoffs offset. We no longer see a catalyst for a bounce in the stock. We are decreasing our ’11 est to $5.20 (was $5.35) to reflect higher exps, though still down meaningfully from the 4Q run-rate. We are maintaining our ’12 est of $5.45."

UBS reiterates their "Neutral" rating on PNC Financial (PNC), which closed Friday at $60.83, falling $0.17, or 0.28 percent. UBS did remove PNC from its "Short-Term Buy" rating. They have a price target on PNC of $62.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC), PNC (NYSE:PNC), Comerica (NYSE:CMA), JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM), Goldman (NYSE:GS) Large Cap Top Picks of Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) in Banking Sector

Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) upgraded the large cap banking sector, naming Bank of America (NYSE:BAC), PNC Financial(NYSE:PNC), Comerica (NYSE:CMA), JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM) and Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) as their top picks in 2011.

They said that "continued credit improvement, a return to positive loan growth, and a constructive investment banking outlook will drive average EPS growth of 59% in 2011, well above the 12% expected for the S&P 500."

Wells also believes sentiment for the large cap banks will improve on "an improving US economy, increased capital returns and a reduction in headline risks..."

The overall sector upgrade was the result of what Wells considers a "superior EPS growth to the S&P 500 and multiple expansion...."

Finally, Wells noted that the large cap banking stocks mentioned
"currently trade at price/TBV multiples that are below or inline with the sector average, allowing investors the ability to purchase strong performers at a valuation below more growth-challenged regional banks."

Expectations for dividends are the payout ratios will almost double from the current 14 percent average in the industry.

Bank of America closed at $14.99, gaining $0.30, or 2.04 percent. PNC closed at $62.20, gaining $0.58, or 0.94 percent. Comerica ended the trading session at $42.02, up $0.84, or 2.04 percent. JPMorgan closed trading at $44.71, increasing $1.11, or 2.55 percent. Goldman closed the day at $171.67, up $2.31, or 1.36 percent.

BofA (NYSE:BAC), Citi (NYSE:C), Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC), JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM) Among Barclays (NYSE:BCS) Top Bank Picks

Top picks in a number of sectors have been unsurprisingly pouring out from everywhere, and one Barclays (NYSE:BCS) released their list of top picks in the banking industry, led by BofA (NYSE:BAC), Citi (NYSE:C), Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) and JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM).

Barclays noted their picks were based mostly on those banks that are expected redeploy capital in the first part of 2011.

Also chosen as top pick banks were State Street (NYSE:STT), PNC Financial (NYSE:PNC), US Bancorp (NYSE:USB), TCF Financial (NYSE:TCB), Bank of New York Mellon (NYSE:BK), First Interstate Bancsystem (Nasdaq:FIBK) and City National (NYSE:CYN).


Bank ratings and price targets:


BofA - Equalweight with $19 price target - closed at $14.19

Citi - Overweight with $6 target - closed at $4.90

Wells Fargo - Overweight with $36 target - closed at $31.58

JPMorgan - Overweight with $60 target - closed at $43.58

State Street - Overweight with $57 target - closed at $47.62

PNC Financial - Equalweight with $75 target - closed at $61.46

US Bancorp - Overweight with $31 target - closed at $26.94

TCF Financial - Overweight with $22 target - closed at $14.84

Bank of NY Mellon - Overweight with $38 target - closed at $30.81

First Interstate Bancsystem - Overweight with $19 target

City National (NYSE: CYN) - Overweight with $65 target - closed at $15.57

PNC (NYSE:PNC) Interested in Regions (NYSE:RF), BankAtlantic (NYSE:BBX)

A report in the Florida Business Journal, citing unnamed sources in the industry, said PNC Financial Services (NYSE:PNC) was interested in expanding its presence in Florida, and is looking at Regions Financial Corp. (NYSE:RF) and BankAtlantic (NYSE:BBX) for possible acquisitions.

PNC is reportedly already in talks with Regions, and is taking into consideration a possible deal with BankAtlantic.

Regions and BankAtlantic shares have been under pressure and possibly could be acquired at decent prices.

Most analysts see PNC expanding its presence in Florida as a good move for them.

PNC was trading at $59.96, down $0.45, or 0.74 percent, as of 12:37 PM EST. Regions Financial was trading at $6.27, up $0.07, or 1.13 percent. BankAtlantic was at $0.96, up 0.10, or 11.70 percent.

PNC Financial Services (NYSE:PNC), U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB), Bank of America (NYSE:BAC), JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM) Top FBR Banking Picks

Even though banks will continue to experience a challenging environment, FBR Capital believes investors should still invest in them, and among their favorite picks are PNC Financial Services (NYSE:PNC), U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB), Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) and JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM).

FBR said, "Although we expect 2011 to be a challenging year for banks, we are positive on the industry as a whole and expect it to outperform other sectors as valuations are compelling. We favor large banks over regionals, given their diversified business models and their limited exposure to CRE; accordingly, our favorite names are The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc., U.S. Bancorp, Bank of America Corporation, and JPMorgan Chase & Co. Bank stocks have been beaten down in the face of headline risk related to reps and warrants exposure, foreclosure mania, and increased regulation and capital standards. We believe the sell-off was overdone given that the headline risk was overplayed. Further, regulators appear to be somewhat relaxing their stance on capital management and have opened the door to possible dividend increases in 1H11. Investors will view this as a positive, but we believe any capital management policies will be incremental until the economy materially improves. Although we are overall positive on banks, we recognize that there are additional headwinds: Fee income faces many hurdles as banks feel the full impact of increased regulation, and net interest income could remain under pressure as loan balances continue to decline. Credit costs also could remain elevated as banks work through their CRE and HELOC
exposure. However, we believe overall valuations are too compelling to ignore and should attract investors in 2011."

US Bancorp closed Friday at $26.45, up $0.61, or 2.36 percet. PNC ended the day at $60.67, down $0.90, or 1.46 percent. JPMorgan closed at $41.43, up $0.62, or 1.52 percent. Bank of America closed at $12.80, up $0.15, or 1.19 percent.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) Raises Dividend as Expected

General Electric (NYSE:GE) announced it has raised its dividend to 14 cents a share, an increase of 17 percent from the 12 percent it had been offering.

GE CEO Jeff Immelt said "We are able to increase the GE dividend for the second time this year because of continued strong cash generation, accelerated recovery at GE Capital and solid underlying performance in our Industrial businesses through year-end 2010."

While the dividend was expected, it may have caught some off guard as to how quickly it was implemented. Many thought it may come sometime in 2011.

Other major financial institutions such as Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC), JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM), U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB), PNC Financial Services Group (NYSE:PNC) and Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) are all expected to raise their dividends soon as well, although they're waiting to get approval from the Federal Reserve.

Citigroup because of the government continuing to hold a stake in the company will have to wait longer than their peers.

General Electric was trading at $17.53, up $0.41, or 2.36 percent, as of 12:31 PM EST.

Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC), US Bancorp (NYSE:USB), PNC (NYSE:PNC) and JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM) Could Raise Dividends in First Quarter

Commenting on the growing interest in banks starting to return capital to shareholders via dividends again, Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) said the banks in the strongest position and allowed to do that the soonest are Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC), US Bancorp (NYSE:USB), PNC (NYSE:PNC) and JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM).

All of these banks could announce a quarterly dividend in the first quarter if they choose to go that route. If one of them do it, for competitive reasons, all of them would probably take the leap.

On Wednesday the Federal Reserve laid out the parameters for banks who are looking to offer or increase dividends.

Even though some banks fall within the guidelines, Goldman said dividends, even if offered or increased, will fall far below their former levels in the short term from the banks.

Goldman estimates a payout ratio of about 40 percent in relationship to former dividend payouts.

Bank of New York Mellon (NSYE:BK) and State Street (NYSE:STT) are also banks which also are allowede increase their dividends if they choose to.