Cathay (CATY) (ZION) (AWI) (TCB) (BMS) (BOKF) Upgraded

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ: CATY), Zions Bancorporation (NASDAQ: ZION), Armstrong World Industries (NYSE: AWI), TCF Financial Co. (NYSE: TCB), Bemis (NYSE: BMS) and BOK Financial Co. (NASDAQ: BOKF) upgraded by analysts.

Zions Bancorporation (ZION) was upgraded by RBC Capital from a “Sector Perform” rating to an “Outperform” rating. They have a price target of $20.00 on the company, down from $25.00.

Armstrong World Industries (AWI) was upgraded by BB&T (NYSE:BBT) from a “Hold” rating to a “Buy” rating.

TCF Financial Co. (TCB) was upgraded by FBR Capital from an “Underperform” rating to a “Market Perform” rating. They have a price target of $11.00 on the company, down from $12.00.

Bemis (BMS) was upgraded by Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) from an “Underperform” rating to a “Buy” rating.

BOK Financial Co. (BOKF) was upgraded by Stifel Nicolaus from a “Hold” rating to a “Buy” rating. They have a price target of $56.00 on the company.

Cathay General Bancorp (CATY) was upgraded by RBC Capital from a “Sector Perform” rating to an “Outperform” rating. They have a price target of $15.00 on the company, down from $18.00.

Zions (ZION) (CHKP) (NUVA) (TLB) (HANS) (HAS) Upgraded

Zions Bancorporation (NASDAQ: ZION), Check Point Software (NASDAQ: CHKP), NuVasive (NASDAQ: NUVA), Talbots (NYSE: TLB), Hansen Natural Co. (NASDAQ: HANS) and Hasbro, Inc. (NYSE: HAS) upgraded by analysts.

Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) upgraded Check Point Software (CHKP) from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating. They have a price target of $71.00 on the company.

Longbow Research upgraded Hansen Natural Co. (HANS) from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating.

BMO Capital Markets upgraded Hasbro, Inc. (HAS) to a “market perform” rating.

NuVasive (NUVA) was upgraded by Robert W. Baird from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating. They have a price target of $42.00 on the company, up from $32.00.

Talbots (TLB) was upgraded by Janney Montgomery Scott from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating. They have a price target of $3.00 on the company.

Zions Bancorporation (ZION) was upgraded by Compass Point from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating. They have a price target of $23.00 on the company, up from $21.00.

Dividends on (ZION) (D) (FMFC) (SYNT) (LEG) Declared

Zions Bancorp (NASDAQ:ZION), Dominion Resources Inc. (NYSE:D), First M&F Corp. (NASDAQ:FMFC), Syntel Inc. (NASDAQ:SYNT) and Leggett & Platt Inc. (NYSE:LEG) declare dividends.

The Board of Directors of Zions Bancorp (NASDAQ:ZION) declared a quarterly common stock dividend of $0.01 per share payable 5/27/11 to shareholders of record at the close of business on 5/27/11.

The Board of Directors of Dominion Resources Inc. (D) declared a quarterly common stock dividend of $0.4925 per share payable 6/20/11 to shareholders of record at the close of business on 5/27/11.

The Board of Directors of First M&F Corp. (FMFC) declared a quarterly common stock dividend of $0.01 per share payable 6/30/11 to shareholders of record at the close of business on 6/17/11.

The Board of Directors of Syntel Inc. (NASDAQ:SYNT) declared a quarterly common stock dividend of $0.06 per share payable 7/14/11 to shareholders of record at the close of business on 6/30/11.

The Board of Directors of Leggett & Platt Inc. (LEG) declared a second quarter common stock dividend of $0.27 per share payable 7/15/11 to shareholders of record at the close of business on 6/15/11.

Dividend Yields for (ZION) (FHN) (STI) (LMT) (RTN)

Indicated dividend yields for Standard & Poor's 500 Index companies Zions Bancorporation (ZION), First Horizon National Corp (FHN), SunTrust Banks Inc (STI), Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT) and Raytheon Co (RTN).

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.

First Horizon National Inc (FHN) has a dividend yield of 0.37 percent on a declared dividend of $0.01. The payout ratio is na.

Zions Bancorporation (FHN) has a dividend yield of 0.16 percent on a declared dividend of $0.01. The payout ratio is 12.3 percent.

SunTrust Banks Inc (STI) has a dividend yield of 0.14 percent on a declared dividend of $0.01. The payout ratio is 4.5 percent.

Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT) has a dividend yield of 3.79 percent on a declared dividend of $0.75. The payout ratio is 48.5 percent.

Raytheon Co (RTN) has a dividend yield of 3.54 percent on a declared dividend of $0.43. The payout ratio is 35.2 percent.

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.

Zions Bancorp (NASDAQ:ZION) Overhangs Weigh Bank Down, More Visibility Needed on Earnings

Zions Bancorp (NASDAQ:ZION) continues to be weighed down by a number of overhangs, especially in their commercial real estate portfolio, leaving little visibility and catalysts to suggest the bank will start to make money again.

FBR says, "Overall, we thought the quarter was in line with
expectations, considering the company still has a significant amount of problem credits to work through on its commercial real estate portfolio and will continue to see material one-time charges from its conversion of subordinated debt to preferred stock over the next two quarters...Given these overhangs, we remain on the sidelines, but could become more constructive on the stock when we have a clearer understanding of when ZION could make money and repay TARP. We are adjusting our FY11E operating EPS to $0.40 from $0.70 and introducing our FY12E operating EPS of $1.45."

FBR Capital maintains a "Market Perform" on Zions Bancorp (ZION), which was trading at $23.17, down $0.58, or 2.44 percent, as of 1:24 PM EST. FBR has a price target of $22 on Zions.

Zion Bancorp (Nasdaq:ZION), Avago (Nasdaq:AVGO), Collective Brands (NYSE:PSS), International Paper (NYSE:IP), Kulicke & Soffa (Nasdaq:KLIC), tw telec

Davidson released their top picks for 2011, among them Zion Bancorp (Nasdaq:ZION), Avago (Nasdaq:AVGO), Collective Brands (NYSE:PSS), International Paper (NYSE:IP), Kulicke & Soffa (Nasdaq:KLIC) and tw telecom (Nasdaq:TWTC).

Those listed above have had the largest amount of trading activity on average, over the last 3 months.

Also top picks of Davidson for 2011 are ACI Worldwide (Nasdaq:ACIW), Buffalo Wild Wings (Nasdaq:BWLD), Diamond Foods (Nasdaq:DMND), ITC Holdings (NYSE:ITC), RTI International Metals (NYSE:RTI), Shaw Group (Nasdaq:SHAW), Triumph Group (NYSE:TGI),
Umpqua (Nasdaq:UMPQ), Valmont (NYSE:VMI) and Volcom (Nasdaq:VLCM).

Price Targets on all 16 companies:


Zion Bancorp - $31 price target - closed Monday at $25.17

Avago Tech - $35 price target - closed at $27.80

Collective Brands - $27 price target - closed at $21.28

International Paper - $36 price target - closed at $28.02

Kulicke & Soffa - $14 price target - closed at $7.20

tw telecom - $24 price target - closed at $17.89

ACI Worldwide - $32 price target - closed at $27.45

Buffalo Wild Wings - $60 price target - closed at $45.38

Diamond Foods - $59 price target - closed at $52.19

ITC Holdings - $75 price target - closed at $62.52

RTI International Metals - $37 price target - closed at $27.30

Shaw Group - $40 price target - closed at $34.67

Triumph Group - $110 price target - closed at $91.89

Umpqua - $15 price target - closed at $12.74

Valmont - $110 price target - closed at $89.03

Volcom - $23 price target - closed at $19.22

JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM), Bank of America (NYSE:BAC), Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC), Goldman (NYSE:GS) Rise with Bank Mania

With a number of the regional banking stocks soaring on M&A activity, it seems the large-cap bankers are getting in on the investor action as well, with JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM), Bank of America (NYSE:BAC), Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) and Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) all closing Wednesday in positive territory, on basically no catalysts.

Regional banks like SunTrust Banks (NYSE:STI), Zions (Nasdaq:ZION), Fifth Third Bancorp (Nasdaq:FITB), Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) and First Horizon (NYSE:FHN) all closed up as well, and at higher percentages, for the most part, than the large caps, with the exception of Bank of America, which jumped over 3 percent.

It's getting a little disconcerting to hear the depth of the bullishness being poured on the banking sector, as it seems there are far too many economic questions lingering in the background to justify this type of exuberance.

But the bank bulls are stampeding, and until they get some of the air out of their nostrils, they're going to continue forward on momentum with not much more than wishful thinking as their impetus.

Regionals may have some reasons for jumping, but large caps are pretty much where they have been, and it's unlikely anything sustainable is going to push them up for long, at least from a fundamentals way of looking at it.

Bank of America closed at $13.38 Wednesday, gaining $0.40, or 3.08 percent. Wells Fargo closed at $31.31, up $0.49, or 1.59 percent. JPMorgan ended the session at $42.16, up $1.16, or 2.83 percent. Goldman closed the day at $169.60, up $1.37, or 0.81 percent.

Regions Financial (NYSE:RF), First Horizon (NYSE:FHN), SunTrust Banks (NYSE:STI), Zions (Nasdaq:ZION), Fifth Third Bancorp (Nasdaq:FITB) Up on M&A Activity

Investors have been drawn to regional banks, as merger-and-acquisition activity in the sector has attracted the interest of investors and pushed up the share prices of banks like Regions Financial (NYSE:RF), First Horizon (NYSE:FHN), SunTrust Banks (NYSE:STI), Zions (Nasdaq:ZION) and Fifth Third Bancorp (Nasdaq:FITB).

Recent M&A deals stirring up interest include Hancock Holding's (Nasdaq:HBHC) announcement it was going to acquire Whitney Holding (Nasdaq:WTNY) for about $1.5 billion. Whitney surged to close Wednesday at $14.00, up $3.13, or 28.79 percent.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Inc. (Nasdaq:BHLB) said it was going to acquire Legacy Bancorp Inc. (Nasdaq:LEGC) for $110 million. Legacy soared to close Wednesday at $12.65, gaining $4.05, or 47.09 percent.

These followed on the announcement by the Bank Of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) they were going to acquire Marshall & Ilsley for $4.1 billion.

Regions Financial closed Wednesday at $6.91, up $0.46, or 7.13 percent. First Horizon closed the session at $11.75, up $0.47, or 4.17 percent. SunTrust Banks closed at $28.85, gaining $0.99, or 3.55 percent. Zions Bancorporation closed at $23.68, up $0.66, or 2.87 percent. Fifth Third Bancorp closed the day at $14.71, up $0.41, or 2.87 percent.

Comerica (NYSE:CMA), Zions Bancorp (Nasdaq:ZION), Popular (Nasdaq:BPOP), Huntington Bancshares (Nasdaq:HBAN) Top Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Midcap Bank

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) likes what it sees with the midcap banking sector, and has upgraded the overall grouping, with their favorite picks being Comerica (NYSE:CMA), Huntington Bancshares (Nasdaq:HBAN), Zions Bancorp (Nasdaq:ZION) and Popular (Nasdaq:BPOP).

Morgan rates the overall sector as "Attractive," bumped up from their former "In-Line" rating.

Comerica was trading at $41.03, up $0.49, or 1.21 percent, as of 12:29 PM EST. Huntington was trading at $6.4650, down $0.1925, or 2.89 percent. Zions Bancorp was at $22.88, up $0.04, or 0.18 percent. Popular was trading at $3.05, up $0.02, or 0.66 percent.

JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM), BofA (NYSE:BAC), Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC), AmEx (NYSE:AXP) Top Banking Picks of Morgan Stanley in 2011

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) released its list of top banking picks in the U.S., Europe and Canada for 2011. In the U.S., the top four picks are JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM), Bank of America (NYSE:BAC), Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) and American Express (NYSE:AXP). Following them in fifth and sixth place in the u.S. were PNC Bank (NYSE:PNC) and Zions Bancorp. (Nasdaq:ZION).

Top banking picks in Europe by Morgan Stanley are Societe Generale SA, UBS (NYSE:UBS), Julius Baer Gruppe AG, Danske Bank A/S, DnB NOR ASA, Barclays (NYSE:BCS) and Mediobanca Group.

In Canada, Morgan's top picks were Toronto-Dominion Bank (NYSE:TD)
and Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS).

Bank of America closed Friday at $11.86, up by $0.18, or 1.54 percent. JP Morgan Chase closed at $39.61, up by $0.30, or 0.76 percent. Wells Fargo was at $29.05, gaining $0.27, or 0.94 percent. American Express closed at $44.88, dropping 0.10, or 0.22 percent. PNC ended the week at $57.26, up by $0.69 on Friday, or 1.22 percent. Zions Bancorp ended at $21.29, up by $0.20, or 0.95 percent.

Zions Bancorp (NASDAQ:ZION) Franchise Value Under Pressure

Miller Tabak has lowered their price target and earnings estimate for Zions Bancorp (NASDAQ:ZION), while maintaining a "Sell" rating on the financial institution.

Concerns are their franchise could drop in value because of moves that are diluting the shares of the company.

Miller Tabak said, "In recent quarters, ZION has successfully managed to convert a considerable amount of subordinated debt into new preferred stock, while also selling new common and preferred stock to the public. This had resulted in some dilution to common shareholders, and we estimate that ZION is not finished de-leveraging its capital structure."

Zions closed on Monday at $19.25, falling $0.25, or 1.28 percent. Miller has a price target of $16.95 on them.