US Bancorp (USB) (HBI) (NTRS) (ST) (TCBI) (TWC) Price Targets Changed

US Bancorp (NYSE: USB), Hanesbrands (NYSE: HBI), Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ: NTRS), Sensata Tech (NYSE: ST), Texas Capital (NASDAQ: TCBI) and Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC) had their price targets adjusted by analysts.

US Bancorp (USB) had its price target raised by Barclays Capital from $31.00 to $33.00. They have an “overweight” rating on the company.

Hanesbrands (HBI) had its price target raised by Barclays Capital from $30.00 to $35.00. They have an “equal weight” rating on the company.

Northern Trust Co. (NTRS) had its price target lowered by Barclays Capital from $65.00 to $60.00. They have an “equal weight” rating on the company.

Sensata Tech (ST) had its price target raised by Barclays Capital from $40.00 to $42.00. They have an “overweight” rating on the company.

Texas Capital (TCBI) had its price target raised by Barclays Capital from $26.00 to $28.00. They have an “equal weight” rating on the company.

Time Warner Cable (TWC) had its price target raised by Barclays Capital from $75.00 to $80.00. They have an “equal weight” rating on the company.

Dividend Yields for (BBT) (PNC) (USB) (FITB) (WFC)

Indicated dividend yields for Standard & Poor's 500 Index companies BB&T Corp (BBT), PNC Financial Services Group (PNC), US Bancorp (USB), Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB) and Wells Fargo & Co (WFC).

These dividend data indicate dividend yields of companies in the Standard & Poor's 500 Index as of Saturday, April 30. The yield is determined by taking the latest declared dividend, annualized and divided by the price of the stock. Payout ratios are calculated based on latest quarterly dividend paid divided by earnings.

BB&T Corp (BBT) has a dividend yield of 2.38 percent on a declared dividend of $0.16. The payout ratio is 52.5 percent.

PNC Financial Services Group (PNC) has a dividend yield of 2.25 percent on a declared dividend of $0.35. The payout ratio is 22.0 percent.

US Bancorp (USB) has a dividend yield of 1.94 percent on a declared dividend of $0.12. The payout ratio is 22.9 percent.

Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB) has a dividend yield of 1.81 percent on a declared dividend of $0.06. The payout ratio is 62.5 percent.

Wells Fargo & Co (WFC) has a dividend yield of 1.65 percent on a declared dividend of $0.07. The payout ratio is 17.8 percent.

JPMorgan (JPM) (BBY) (TIV) (KR) (WAG) Victims of Email Theft

A number of bank and businesses have had their emails and names of customers stolen by hackers, including JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM), Best Buy (NYSE:BBY), TIVO (NASDAQ:TIV)), Kroger (NYSE:KR), Walgreen (NYSE:WAG), Citigroup (NYSE:C), U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB), Barclays (NYSE:BCS and Capital One Financial (NYSE:COF).

Epsilon, a division of Alliance Data Systems Corp., was the company which has been apparently hacked, with the probable theft of million in emails of the companies mentioned above, and others.

Other private information wasn't attained, according to Epsilon, but companies have been sending out warnings to their customers to be wary from emails claiming to be from them which ask for personal information which could be used to extract money from their accounts; a tactic called "phishing."

Normally this scheme involves the hackers to set up a site made to look like the site of a bank and then get them to log in using their user name and password, which they then can use to access the account itself.

Dividend Raises from (JPM) (WFC) (USB) Expected

Today the Federal Reserve will let the banks who passed recent stress tests go ahead with dividend increases, with most believing JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM) is at the top of the list for going forward. Also expected to be released to boost dividends are Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) and U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB).

The banks cleared already know who they are, but the U.S. government sent all banks a two-page memorandum that forbids them from discussing how they fared in the tests. It warns that they can't "disclose any underlying analysis or findings related to your bank."

What is significant for today is they banks cleared to raise dividends will be allowed to announce it.

Those receiving permission will have a huge advantage over their competitors, as it'll attract those investing for dividends, obviously, but also give the banks more flexibility in deploying or raising capital over their peers.

U.S. Bancorp closed Thursday at $26.35, up $0.20, or 0.76 percent. Wells Fargo closed at $31.36, up $0.13, or 0.43 percent. JPMorgan closed at $44.56, gaining $0.75, or 1.71 percent.

Dividends for Wells Fargo (WFC) (JPM) (USB) (PNC)?

Expectations are the Federal Reserve is about to release certain qualified banks to reinstate or bump up dividends very soon, with Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC), JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM) US Bancorp (NYSE:USB) and PNC Financial Services Group (NYSE:PNC) being among the top banks expected to get the go ahead. It could be as early as this week when the word comes down from the Fed.

This will of course be an extraordinary competitive advantage for those banks getting the news, at least for the time it takes for competitors to get their approval as well.

But even when they do, it's still a matter of the performance and health of the banks as to how much of a dividend they offer.

Wells Fargo closed Friday at $32.38, up $0.32, or 1.00 percent. JPMorgan closed at $45.74, gaining $0.21, or 0.46 percent. PNC Financial ended the day at $62.91, increasing $0.70, or 1.13 percent. U.S. Bankcorp closed at $27.16, down $0.02, or 0.07 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.

American Express (AXP), Bank of America (BAC), Capital One Financial (COF), JPMorgan (JPM) and Credit Card Risks

Consumers still have difficulty understanding the costs and risks of credit cards, despite some improvements made by issuers, a top regulator said Tuesday

“Our next challenge will be about further clarifying price and risk and making it easier for consumers to make direct product comparisons,” said Elizabeth Warren, Special Advisor to the Secretary of the Treasury for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, at the beginning of a credit card conference bringing together regulators, bankers, academics and market research groups.

The conference takes place roughly one year after many provisions of a new credit card law, the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act took effect.The consumer bureau will take responsibility for administering the statute later this summer.

In addition to raising concerns, Warren praised credit card companies for going above and beyond requirements of the statute. She cited data assembled by the consumer bureau and bank regulators that said card issuers have done better than the law requires of them when it comes to curbing opaque interest rate re-pricing and cutting over-limit fees. Read about the findings of credit card studies.

“A number of [credit card] issuers have eliminated some of the practices that can confuse customers and cost them money they reasonably did not expect to pay,” she said.

Research firm Nilson Report lists the top nine credit card issuers as American Express (NYSE:AXP), Bank of America Corp. (NYSE:BAC), Capital One Financial Corp. (NYSE:COF), J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM), Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C), Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS), HSBC (NYSE:HBC), U.S. Bancorp. (NYSE:USB) and Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE:WFC).

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Bank of America (NYSE:BAC), Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC), US Bancorp (NYSE:USB), JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM) Among Top Holdings of Basswood Capital Management

Of the top ten holdings of Basswood Capital Management, banks were the leading representatives, with Bank of America (NYSE:BAC), Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC), US Bancorp (NYSE:USB) and JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM) among the top holdings of the company.

Basswood added a little over 24,000 more shares to Wells Fargo, and sold off over 57,340 shares of Bank of America. US Bancorp and JPMorgan remained level.

The top three holdings were Wells Fargo in the top position, US Bancorp 2nd, and JPMorgan Chase in third. Bank of America dropped to 9th place; all measured by market value.

The rest, as measured by market value, were Ingersoll-Rand Plc (NYSE:IR) in fourth place, followed by Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC), Toll Brothers (NYSE:TOL) and Walgreen (NYSE:WAG), in that order. In the #10 spot was Anixter International (NYSE:AXE).

This was according to a required 13F-HR filing with the SEC.

Bank of America closed Monday at $14.89, up $0.12, or 0.81 percent. U.S. Bancorp closed at $28.68, gaining $0.31, or 1.09 percent. Wells Fargo ended the session at $33.87, up $0.11, or 0.33 percent. JPMorgan closed at $46.54, down $0.03, or 0.06 percent.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC), JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM), US Bancorp (NYSE:USB) Dumped by Nelson Peltz

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC), JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM) and US Bancorp(NYSE:USB) were all dropped Nelson Peltz's Trian Partners, as he again targets his favorite sector: food stocks, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The favorite holding added by Peltz's Trian Partners in the food sector for the fourth quarter is Kellogg (NYSE:K). Peltz added close to 1.5 million shares of the food giant for the quarter.

Kellogg, along with its competitors, recently announced they're going to have to raise food prices in order to maintain margins over the long term.

Kellogg was trading at $53.70, gaining $0.61, or 1.15 percent, as of 1:40 PM EST.

JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM), Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC), US Bancorp [NYSE:USB) Among Banks Likely to Raise Dividends

Among U.S. banks, RBC Capital says JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM), Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC), US Bancorp (NYSE:USB), Bank of New York Mellon (NYSE:BK), Capital One Financial (NYSE:COF), PNC Financial Services Group (NYSE:PNC), State Street (NYSE:STT) are among those with the highest probability to raise their dividends.

Much of this is based upon the requirement of the U.S. government which said only banks that were well-capitalized would be allowed to boost their dividends, something RBC Capital Markets analyst Gerard Cassidy believes the banks listed above qualify for.

Not only that, Cassidy thinks they banks could raise dividends quicker than investors think they will.

So far there hasn't been much activity in that regard, but if one or two raise dividends, there's no doubt those who qualify will respond quickly with dividend increased of their own.

U.S. Bancorp's (NYSE:USB) Credit Metrics Improve in Last Quarter

Commenting on the recent quarterly earnings report from U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB), FBR said their biggist takeaway from that, and with other banking reports so far, is the improvement in credit metrics.

FBR says, "The company reported GAAP EPS of $0.49, ahead of both FBR and consensus expectations of $0.47 and $0.46, respectively. Our biggest takeaway from 4Q earnings, as with most banks to date, was marked improvement in credit metrics. NCOs decreased 11% to $1B, and NPAs fell 5% to $3.6B, as credit quality improved across all loan categories. Improving credit trends drove a modest reserve release of $25M, which is the first reserve release for the company. Losses will likely moderate in the coming quarters as both early- and late-stage delinquencies fell in 4Q. We continue to find USB's core franchise attractive, and we expect the diverse revenue stream and low-cost deposit base to help offset regulatory pressures to earnings moving forward."

FBR Capital maintains an "Outperform" rating on U.S. Bancorp (USB), which was trading at $26.47, down $0.05, or 0.19 percent, as of 12:40 PM EST. FBR has a price target of $28 on UBS.

Wells (NYSE:WFC), US Bancorp (NYSE:USB) Earnings Up, as Margins Shrink

Wells Fargo & Co (NYSE:WFC) and U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) both posted a profit in the fourth quarter, led by the improvement in credit quality.

But margins at both banks were under pressure during the latest quarter.

For Wells Fargo, their increase in profits came in large part from the fashionable practice of releasing loan loss reserves in order to make their bottom line look stronger. In their case the release came to $850 million.

Even so, Wells did state their problem loans did get lower, with net charge-offs dropping 29 percent year-over-year.

Both banks noted that ongoing low interest rates continue to put pressure on profits from lending.

The bad news is companies have been borrowing, i.e. opening credit lines with banks at a higher level, but they're still not tapping into them, revealing their lack of confidence in economic growth, which has been going on since the recession began.

There will be no economic recovery until businesses begin to borrow, and their reluctance continues to confirm we're still in for a long and ongoing recession.

U.S. Bancorp was trading at $26.51, losing $0.80, or 2.93 percent, as of 2:17 PM EST. Wells Fargo was trading at $31.86, down $0.63, or 1.94 percent.

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

With bank earning season about to hit, FBR said their top recommendations for large caps are Bank of America (NYSE:BAC), PNC Financial (NYSE:PNC), JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM) and U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB).

Among regional banks they like Signature Bank (Nasdaq:SBNY) and National Penn Bancshares (Nasdaq:NPBC).

FBR said, "Bank earnings season kicks off with JP Morgan Chase (Outperform) reporting 4Q10 results on January 14. We expect that quarterly EPS will likely be in line to slightly better than expectations due to decent reserve releases, good mortgage banking earnings from historically low interest rates in the front end of the quarter, and better-than-expected NIM due to an increase in rates in the back half of the quarter. However, we recommend investors tread carefully going into the quarter given: (1) strong recent outperformance from the sector, and (2) the potential for cautious forecasts from management commentary could temper expectations. We favor the larger banks due to better efficiency and more diversified revenue sources; we are more cautious on regional banks, particularly those struggling to earn their cost of capital and relatively higher exposure to commercial real estate. We recommend PNC Financial Services Group (Outperform), JPM, U.S. Bancorp (Outperform), and Bank of America (Outperform), and note that there are company-specific opportunities among the regional banks, such as Signature Bank ( Outperform) and National Penn Bancshares (Outperform). Outside of improving credit trends, we are cautious on fundamental trends for the group, given our expectation for weak loan growth, adverse asset mix shifts, and lower mortgage banking revenues, which all are risks to 2011 earnings."

"Into 4Q10 results, we favor the large banks with diversified revenues, efficient operations, large reserves, and exposure to mortgage banking. We recommend PNC, JPM, USB and BAC, along with SBNY and NPBC among the regionals, but we remain cautious on less-efficient regional banks."

JPMorgan was trading at $43.26, down $0.38, or 0.87 percent, as of 11:33 AM EST. Bank of America was at $14.27, up $0.02, or 0.14 percent. PNC was at $61.42, down $0.52, or 0.84 percent. U.S. Bancorp was at $26.04, down $0.05, or 0.19 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 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.