Sun Life (SLF) (CVBF) (FHN) (FITB) (FRC) (BCH) (SLF) Ratings, Price Targets

Sun Life Financial Inc. (SLF), CVB Financial Corp (CVBF), First Horizon National Co. (FHN), Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB), First Republic Bank (FRC), Banco de Chile (BCH) and Sun Life Financial Inc. (SLF) had ratings and price targets on them adjusted by analysts.

Wunderlich downgraded CVB Financial Corp (CVBF) from a "Buy" rating to a "Hold" rating. $12.00

Morgan Stanley downgraded First Horizon National Co. (FHN) from an "Overweight" rating to an "Equal Weight" rating.

Sterne Agee downgraded Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB) from a "Buy" rating to a "Neutral" rating.

Morgan Stanley upgraded First Republic Bank (FRC) from an "Equal Weight" rating to an "Overweight" rating.

Credit Suisse initiated coverage on Banco de Chile (BCH). They placed an "Outperform" rating on the company.

Credit Suisse initiated coverage on Banco Santander-Chile (SAN). They placed an "Outperform" rating on the company.

Desjardins upgraded Sun Life Financial Inc. (SLF) from a "Hold" rating to a "Buy" rating.

Synovus (SNV) (FITB) (GPRO) (IR) (KKPNY) Upgraded

Synovus Financial Corp. (NYSE: SNV), Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ: FITB), Gen-Probe Incorporated (NASDAQ: GPRO), Ingersoll-Rand (NYSE: IR) and Koninklijke KPN (NASDAQ: KKPNY) were upgraded by analysts.

Synovus Financial Corp. (SNV) was upgraded by Credit Suisse (NYSE:CS) from a “Neutral” rating to an “Outperform” rating. They have a price target of $2.25 on the company.

Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB) was upgraded by Nomura from a “Neutral” rating to a “Buy” rating.

Gen-Probe Incorporated (GPRO) was upgraded by Canaccord Genuity from a “Hold” rating to a “Buy” rating. They have a price target of $67.00 on the company.

Ingersoll-Rand (IR) was upgraded by UBS AG (NYSE:UBS) from a “Neutral” rating to a “Buy” rating. They have a price target of $43.00 on the company.

Koninklijke KPN (KKPNY) was upgraded by Credit Suisse from a “Neutral” rating to an “Outperform” rating.

General Electric (GE) (PNC) (FITB) (TRV) (HON) (RAI) EPS Estimates Changed

General Electric (NYSE: GE), PNC Financial Services (NYSE: PNC), Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ: FITB), The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE: TRV), Honeywell International Inc. (NYSE: HON) and Reynolds American, Inc. (NYSE: RAI) EPS estimates adjusted by analysts.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) raised its EPS estimate on Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB). They have a “Hold” rating and a price target of $14.00 on the company.

Credit Suisse (NYSE:CS) cuts its EPS estimate on General Electric (GE) ‘s. They have an “Outperform” rating and a price target of $23.00 on the company.

Citigroup lowered its EPS estimate on Honeywell International Inc. (HON). They have a “hold” rating and a price target of $65.00 on the company.

Citigroup boosted its EPS estimate on PNC Financial Services (PNC). They have a “Hold” rating and a price target of $64.00 on the company.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) cuts its EPS estimate on Reynolds American, Inc. (RAI). They have an “Equal Weight” rating and a price target of $38.00 on the company.

UBS AG lowered its EPS estimate on The Travelers Companies, Inc. (TRV). They have a “Buy” rating and a price target of $66.00 on the company.

Most Active (CSCO) (DELL) (INTC) (MU) (MSFT) (NVDA) (YHOO) (SIRI) (FITB) (LVLT) NASDAQ Stocks Today

The most active stocks trading on NASDAQ today are Cisco (CSCO), Dell (NASDAQ:DELL), Fifth Third BanCorp (NASDAQ:FITB), Intel Corp. (NASDAQ:INTC), Level 3 Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:LVLT), Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ:MU), Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT), Nvidia Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA), Sirius XM Radio Inc. (NASDAQ:SIRI) and Yahoo (NASDAQ:YHOO).

Trading in positive territory were Dell, Fifth Third BanCorp, Intel, Level 3 Communications and Sirius. The rest were trading down.

Sirius was by far the volume leader of the stocks mentioned here, with volume over 197 million. Intel was next with volume at right about 90 million.

Cisco was next with trading volume reaching about 44 million; all of these as of 2:48PM EDT.

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.

BofA (BAC) (GE) (FITB) Enter X-Rite (XRIT) Credit Facility

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC), Fifth Third Bank (NASDAQ:FITB) and GE Capital Corp. (NYSE:GE) entered into a $225 million senior secured credit facility with X-Rite Inc. (NASDAQ:XRIT).

X-Rite said it will use the capital to refinance it debt and to redeem all its outstanding preferred stock. The company has $49.4 million in outstanding preferred stock.

Terms of the deal are a revolving credit facility up to $55 million and a term loan up to $170 million.

Part of the strategy is to lower the cost of capital. In the first year the company will save approximately $10 million in annual interest expense, down from $28 million in 2010.

X-Rite will record charges of about $14 million in the refinancing.

The company closed Wednesday at $4.75, gaining $0.02, or 0.42 percent.

Huntington (HBAN), BB&T (BBT), Fifth Third (FITB) Jump on GDP Estimate

Huntington Bancshares Inc. (NASDAQ:HBAN), BB&T Corp. (NYSE:BBT) and Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) are all up today after the Commerce Department upwardly revised its estimate of U.S. real gross domestic product growth for the fourth quarter.

Also moving up was the Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLF).

The U.S. economy grew at a 3.1% annualized rate in the fourth quarter, the government said. See economic report on GDP growth.

In other economic indicators Friday, consumer sentiment fell in March to its lowest level in five months, according to a Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan survey.

Within the financial sector, regional banks were among the strongest performers as Huntington Bancshares Inc. (HBAN), BB&T Corp. (BBT) and Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB) all rose more than 1%.

Fifth Third was trading at $13.99, gaining $0.22, or 1.56 percent, as of 12:26 PM EDT. BB&T was trading at $27.26, up $0.59, or 2.23 percent. Huntington Bancshares was at $6.66, gaining $0.16, or 2.54 percent.




Source

Fifth Third (FITB) Commercial Mortgage Exposure Drags Down HBAN, COF, RF, STI

Shares of regional competitors of Fifth Third (NASDAQ:FITB) were dragged down by the negative exposure the bank has to commercial mortgages, which could be the beginning of contagion to other banks.

Other regional competitors punished by the exposed Fifth Third include Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN), Capital One (NYSE:COF), Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) and SunTrust (NYSE:STI).

Huntington Bancshares closed Tuesday at $6.56, falling $0.28, or 4.1 percent. Capital One closed at $48.26, falling $1.51, or 3.03 percent. Regions Financial fell to $7.43, dropping $0.21, or 2.75 percent. SunTrust (STI) closed at $29.41, down $0.76, or 2.52 percent. Fifth Third Bancorp closed at $4.45, declining $0.65, or 4.45 percent.

Wells Fargo (WFC), Fifth Third (FITB), BAC (BAC) UP, Citigroup (C) Down

Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE:WFC) and Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) led bank stocks higher Friday as the financial sector shook off a downward revision to fourth-quarter U.S. economic growth.

Wells Fargo and Fifth Third were the top-gaining components in the Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLF), which rose more than 1% in late-morning trade.

Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) on Friday upgraded shares of Wells Fargo to conviction buy from neutral, while cutting its rating on Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) to neutral from conviction buy.

In upgrading Wells Fargo, the Goldman analysts pointed to solid core pre-provision operating profit trends, improving credit, a possible dividend increase and share buybacks, and overreaction to the recent departure of the bank’s chief financial officer.

Meanwhile, FBR Capital Markets lifted its rating on Fifth Third Bancorp to outperform from market perform and boosted its price target on the shares to $17 from $14.






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Fifth Third Bancorp (Nasdaq:FITB) Wants More Efficiency, Job Cuts Coming?

While some of the larger banks have been doing a little hiring, many of their smaller counterparts like Fifth Third Bancorp (Nasdaq:FITB), are focusing on improving efficiencies, which almost always means job cuts on the way.

Since January 1, smaller banks have been cutting jobs, and with Fifth Third Bancorp's announcement Thursday they want to become more efficient, it appears cutting jobs will have to be part of their strategy.

With government regulations cutting into former revenue of banks, there are few avenues left to bring their efficiency ratios down, other than cutting costs. Some of the fees added to checking accounts will help some, but that's only going to move the needle a little bit.

For Fifth Third, their efficiency ratio soared to over 70 percent during the worst of the crisis, according to Chief Financial Officer Daniel Poston. The goal is to get in back in the 50s.

Poston said this on jobs and efficiencies: "Our bias right now would not be for extensive cost cutting. We will continue to focus on efficiencies, but it probably wouldn't manifest itself in a head-count reduction that has a big headline associated with it."

Fifth Third (Nasdaq:FITB) Heading in Right Direction with Paying Back TARP, Still Warrants to Deal with

In a combination of debt and stock issuance, Fifth Third Bancorp (Nasdaq:FITB) announced they're going to raise the needed capital to pay back what they owe TARP.

The bank will raise the capital in order to buy back the $3.4 billion in preferred shares owned by the Treasury Department.

Half of that will be raised by selling $1.7 billion in common shares.

Even with that step, the Treasury still holds a big piece of the bank, as they hold warrants which allows them to acquire over 43.6 million common shares at the price of $11.72 each. With Fifth Third trading at over $14 a share at this time, the Treasury could make a tidy some as it is.

Fifth Third will eventually attempt to acquire the warrants directly from the Treasury or via an auction process.

While positive developments, the bank does have a long way to go before returning to sound financial health. One obvious area is the credit issues still weighing on the bank.

Fifth Third closed Thursday at $14.22, dropping $0.39, or 2.67 percent.

Fifth Third (Nasdaq:FITB) Sues Gulf Coast Farms Over Defaulted Loans

One of the major thoroughbred breeders in the U.S., Gulf Coast Farms, was sued by Fifth Third Bank (Nasdaq:FITB) over approximately $15 million in defaulted loans.

In 2010, Gulf Coast Farms was the fourth most successful breeder in North America, generating close to $5.6 million in earnings, and also having bred Preakness winner Lookin At Lucky.

Filed in Lexington, Kentucky, where many of the horse facilities are located, the lawsuit says that Gulf Coast owes Third Bank $6.87 million on a 2009 note and another $7.59 million on a 2010 note. There was a smaller amount of $664,500 connected to another deal included with the filing.

Fifth Third closed Thursday at $14.22, dropping $0.39, or 2.67 percent.

They have about 10 times their normal 3-month trading volume on news they're raising capital to pay off TARP.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) Raising $1.7 Billion in Secondary Offering to Pay TARP

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) reported a solid quarter, beating earnings estimates, although it was overshadowed by their announcement they were going to raise $1.7 billion in a secondary offering to pay back TARP.

FBR says, "Fifth Third Bancorp reported EPS of $0.33, beating both FBR and Street estimates of $0.11 and $0.24, respectively. Management also announced that it is raising $1.7 billion in a secondary offering and conducting an undisclosed senior debt offering in order to buy back $3.4 billion of TARP preferreds. We believe that this is a positive development for the company, as it removes an overhang from shares. However, while the capital raise is unlikely to be dilutive to earnings, we do not expect it to be accretive, and the company still has significant credit issues to work through...Given our expectations for higher provisions, we are decreasing our FY11 operating EPS estimates to $1.05 from $1.10 and introducing our FY12 operating EPS estimate of $1.40."

FBR Capital maintains a "Market Perform" rating on Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB), which was trading at $14.37, down $0.24, or 1.64 percent, as of 12:53 PM EST. FBR has a price target of $14 on Fifth Third Bancorp.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) Still Awaits Stress Test Results

Fifth Third Bancorp's (NASDAQ:FITB) EPS estimate for the fourth quarter is higher from Barclays, coming in at $0.29. in comparison of the consensus of $0.24, as the bank waits for the results of their stress test.

Barclays said, "We expect FITB to report 4Q10 EPS of $0.29
versus the $0.24 consensus. We believe its guidance of over a 1.00% ROA implies EPS of more than $0.27...We expect FITB to continue with its recent practice of offering fairly detailed guidance for the upcoming quarter, while providing only more general color on asset quality, net interest margin, and loan growth trends across the balance of the year...While we expect FITB to be among the next grouping of SCAP banks to redeem TARP ($3.4B), it's unclear to us if it will/can do so prior to receiving the results of the 1Q stress test."

Barclays maintains an "Equalweight" on Fifth Third Bancorp, which closed Tuesday at $14.55, up $0.12, or 0.81 percent. Barclays has a price target of $16 on the company.

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.