BB&T (BBT) (TWX) (UMPQ) (UNM) (WYNN) (BK) Ratings, Price Targets

BB&T (BBT), Time Warner Inc. (TWX), Umpqua Holdings Co. (UMPQ), Unum Group (UNM), Wynn Resorts, Limited (WYNN) and Bank of New York Mellon (BK) ratings and price targets.

Wunderlich reiterated its “Buy” rating on Time Warner Inc. (TWX). They have a price target of $42.00 on the company.

Stifel Nicolaus raised its price target on Umpqua Holdings Co. (UMPQ) from $12.00 to $13.00. They have a “Buy” rating on the company.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) lowered its price target on Unum Group (UNM) to $25.00.

Needham & Company upgraded Wynn Resorts, Limited (WYNN) from a “Hold” rating to a “Buy” rating. They have a price target of $145.00 on the company.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) upgraded BB&T (BBT) from an “Equal Weight” rating to an “Overweight” rating.

Morgan Stanley downgraded Bank of New York Mellon (BK) to an “Underweight” rating.

Zumiez (ZUMZ) (BK) (CIEN) (COST) (JWN) (MDCA) (MHP) Ratings Reiterated

Zumiez (NASDAQ: ZUMZ), Bank of New York Mellon (NYSE: BK), Ciena Corp. (NASDAQ: CIEN), Costco (NASDAQ: COST), Nordstrom, Inc. (NYSE: JWN), MDC Partners Inc. (NASDAQ: MDCA) and The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. (NYSE: MHP) had ratings on them reiterated by analysts.

Wedbush reiterated its "Neutral" rating on Zumiez (ZUMZ).

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) reiterated its "Overweight" rating on Bank of New York Mellon (BK).

Morgan Keegan reiterated its "Market Perform" rating on Ciena Corp. ( CIEN).

Piper Jaffray (NYSE:PJC) reiterated its (Overweight" rating on Costco (COST).

Sterne Agee reiterated its "Buy" rating on Nordstrom, Inc. (JWN).

Piper Jaffray reiterated an "Overweight" rating on MDC Partners Inc. (MDCA).

Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) reiterated its "Buy" rating on The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. (MHP).

Bove Likes BofA (BAC) (BK) (PNC) (COF) (STT) (STI) (NTRS) (SNV) (FBC) in Banking Sector

What's up with Rochdale Securities analyst Dick Bove?

Approximately a month after recommending investors sell the banking sector he had turned around and recommended a basket of banks to buy, including Bank of America (NYSE:BAC), Bank of New York Mellon (NYSE:BK), Flagstar Bancorp (NYSE:FBC), PNC Financial (NYSE:PNC), Capital One Financial (NYSE:COF), State Street(NYSE:STT), SunTrust(NYSE:STI), Northern Trust (NYSE:NTRS) and Synovus (NYSE:SNV).

Bove's thinking in his turnaround for some banks in the sector is a number of banks are selling below their franchise and liquidation values.

"At this moment liquidity and values are more compelling than the next disaster," Bove wrote in a note to clients. The banks listed above are those identified by Bove as such.

Bove's operating definition of cash liquidation value is cash holdings (cash plus net Federal Reserve funds and repurchase agreements) in excess of tangible common equity.

Still, Bove confirms the issues banks face are still in place, and in that regard nothing has changed. They've apparently fallen quicker than Bove had anticipated.

Either that, or someone got hold of Bove and told him not to be so negative on the sector.

Cisco (CSCO) (AXP) (BK) (COKE) (HAL) Ratings Reiterated

Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO), American Express (NYSE: AXP), Bank of New York Mellon (NYSE: BK), Coca-Cola Bottling Co. Consolidated (NASDAQ: COKE) and Halliburton (NYSE: HAL) had their ratings reiterated by analysts.

Jefferies maintains a "Hold" rating on Cisco Systems, Inc. (CSCO).

Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) reiterated a "Buy" rating on American Express (AXP).

Goldman Sachs reiterated a "Neutral" rating on Bank of New York Mellon (BK).

Goldman Sachs maintains a "Buy" rating on Coca-Cola Bottling Co. (COKE).

Morgan Keegan reiterated an "Outperform" rating on Halliburton (HAL).

Bank of New York Mellon closed Tuesday at $24.73, gaining $0.09, or 0.37 percent. American Express ended the session at $51.81, jumping $0.48, or 0.94 percent.

Dividend Yields for (JPM) (IVZ) (TROW) (CME) (BK)

Indicated dividend yields for Standard & Poor's 500 Index companies JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM), Invesco Ltd (IVZ), T Rowe Price Group Inc (TROW), CME Group Inc (CME) and Bank of New York Mellon Corp (BK).

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.

JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM) has a dividend yield of 2.19 percent on a declared dividend of $0.25. The payout ratio is 19.4 percent.

Invesco Ltd (IVZ) has a dividend yield of 1.97 percent on a declared dividend of $0.12. The payout ratio is 29.1 percent.

T Rowe Price Group Inc has a dividend yield of 1.93 percent on a declared dividend of $0.31. The payout ratio is 41.5 percent.

CME Group Inc (CME) has a dividend yield of 1.89 percent on a declared dividend of $1.40. The payout ratio is 20.5 percent.

Bank of New York Mellon (BK) has a dividend yield of 1.80 percent on a declared dividend of $0.13. The payout ratio is 17.8 percent.

Analyst Downgrades for (ACLS) (AOB) (BK) (COP) (CVS)

Analysts downgraded Axcelis Technologies Inc (NASDAQ: ACLS), American Oriental (NYSE: AOB), Bank of New York Mellon (NYSE: BK), ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) and CVS Caremark (NYSE: CVS) today.

Craig Hallum downgraded Axcelis Technologies Inc (ACLS) from a “buy” rating to an “accumulate” rating.

Oppenheimer downgraded American Oriental (AOB) from an “outperform” rating to a “perform” rating.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) downgraded Bank of New York Mellon (BK) to an “equal weight” rating.

Deutsche Bank (NYSE:DB) downgraded ConocoPhillips (COP) from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating. They have a price target of $85 on the company, down from $90.

Standpoint Research downgraded CVS Caremark (CVS) from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating. They cited valuation as the catalyst.

Bank of America (BAC) Sued Again Over Mortgage-Backed Securities

Bank of America Corp. (NYSE:BAC), the biggest U.S. bank by assets, was sued by investors in mortgage-backed securities who are seeking to force the bank to buy back loans underlying their securities.

Bank of America’s Countrywide Financial unit breached representations and warranties about the loans, which it originated, the investors said in the complaint filed today in New York state Supreme Court in Manhattan.

“Each of these breaches of representations and warranties materially and adversely affected the interests of both the trust and plaintiffs in those mortgage loans,” they said.

The plaintiffs are a group of limited liability companies with variations of the name Walnut Place. They also claimed in the lawsuit that Bank of New York Mellon Corp. (NYSE:BK), the trustee for investors, “unreasonably failed” to sue Bank of America to force it to repurchase the loans.





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Warren Buffett Says Goodbye to Bank of America (NYSE:BAC)

In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK-A) revealed it totally divested of shares of Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) in the last quarter.

Buffett owned 5 million shares of Bank of America valued at around $745 million.

Bank of America had never been part of Berkshire's long-term financial holdings, which include M&T Bank (NYSE:MTB), American Express (NYSE:AXP), and Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC).

One of Buffett's favorite companies, he acquired another 6.2 million shares of Wells Fargo in the fourth quarter. Berkshire's stake in Wells Fargo now stands at about 20 percent of the overall $52 billion investment portfolio held by the giant company.

Buffett lowered his stake in Bank of New York Mellon Corp. (NYSE:BK).

Non-bank stocks he sold were 6.5 million shares of Lowe's (NYSE:LOW); 6.1 million shares of Nalco Holding Co. (NYSE:NLC); 3.9 million shares of Fiserv Inc. (NASDAQ:FISV); 3.6 million shares of Nike Inc. (NYSE:NKE); 3.4 million shares of Nestle ; 1.9 million shares of Becton, Dickinson & Co. (NYSE:BDX); and 187,000 Comcast Corp. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) shares.

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.