Dividends on (FFG) (FMBI) (HAS) (IVC) (KEY) Declared

FBL Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:FFG), First Midwest Bancorp (NASDAQ:FMBI), Hasbro Inc. (NASDAQ:HAS), Invacare Corp. (NYSE:IVC) and KeyCorp (NYSE:KEY) declare dividends.

The Board of Directors of FBL Financial Group, Inc. (FFG) declared a quarterly common stock dividend of $0.0625 per share payable 6/30/11 to shareholders of record at the close of business on 6/15/11.

The Board of Directors of First Midwest Bancorp (FMBI) declared a quarterly common stock dividend of $0.01 per share payable 7/12/11 to shareholders of record at the close of business on 6/24/11.

The Board of Directors of Hasbro Inc. (HAS) declared a quarterly common stock dividend of $0.30 per share payable 8/15/11 to shareholders of record at the close of business on 8/1/11.

The Board of Directors of Invacare Corp. (IVC) declared a quarterly common stock dividend of $0.0125 per share payable 7/15/11 to shareholders of record at the close of business on 7/5/11.

The Board of Directors of KeyCorp (KEY) declared a quarterly common stock dividend of $0.03 per share payable 6/15/11 to shareholders of record at the close of business on 5/31/11.

Dividend Yields for (CMA) (HBAN) (RF) (MI) (Key)

Indicated dividend yields for Standard & Poor's 500 Index companies Comerica Inc (CMA), Huntington Bancshares (HBAN), Regions Financial (RF), Marshall & Ilsley Corp (MI) and Keycorp (Key).

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.

Comerica Inc (CMA) has a dividend yield of 1.05 percent on a declared dividend of $0.10. The payout ratio is 17.5 percent.

Huntington Bancshares Inc/OH (HBAN) has a dividend yield of 0.59 percent on a declared dividend of $0.01. The payout ratio is 7.3 percent.

Regions Financial Corp (RF) has a dividend yield of 0.55 percent on a declared dividend of $0.01. The payout ratio is 73.9 percent.

Marshall & Ilsley Corp (MI) has a dividend yield of 0.49 percent on a declared dividend of $0.01. The payout ratio is na.

KeyCorp (KEY) has a dividend yield of 0.46 percent on a declared dividend of $0.01. The payout ratio is 3.7 percent.

SunTrust (STI), KeyCorp (KEY) Raising Capital to Pay Back TARP

Now that some bank competitors are able to boost their dividends and repurchase shares, it's apparent the announcement by SunTrust (NYSE:STI) and KeyCorp (NYSE:KEY) that they're going to raise capital to pay back TARP was pressured by the advantage its peers will have over them until they pass their stress tests.

KeyCorp CEO Henry Meyer said, "Our goal has been to be patient in repaying TARP in order to reduce shareholder dilution. We believe this is the appropriate time to put TARP repayment behind us and that repayment now is in the best interests of KeyCorp and our employees, customers and shareholders."

The bank will said they will have a public offering of $625 million of its common stock in connection with its plan to repurchase the $2.5 billion of the preferred stock. Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) and JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM) will act as bookrunners for the offering.

SunTrust said it will raise $1 billion in common stock and $1 billion senior debt offering to repurchase preferred stock issued under TARP.

SunTrust CEO James M. Wells III noted, "SunTrust also looks forward to returning capital to its shareholders at the appropriate time."

Bookrunners for the SunTrust offering are Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS).

KeyCorp was trading at $9.10, up $0.24, or 2.77 percent, as of 2:44 PM EDT. SunTrust was at $29.78, gaining $1.53, or 5.42 percent.

BofA (BAC), MetLife (MET), Citigroup (C), AIG (AIG), KeyCorp Jump Thursday

Shares of bank stocks soared Thursday, as The Financial Select Sector SPDR (NYSEArca:XLF), Bank of America (NYSE:BAC), MetLife (NYSE:MET), Citigroup (NYSE:C), AIG (NYSE:AIG), KeyCorp (NYSE:KEY) were all up for on positive news.

American International Group rose because of its huge offering. Shares of AIG jumped 21 cents, to $37.51. The market also liked that it hired Jeffrey M. Farber of Gamco Investors as deputy chief financial officer.

MetLife shares surged on news of a share sale connected to the company's acquisition of AIG's Alico business.

KeyCorp was up on news they were holding talks with Toronto Dominion Bank (TD) over the possibility of a merger.

Citigroup increased from news bids on its CitiFinancial are garnering more attention.

Both Bank of America and Citigroup were positively impacted on news they were both had cut lending in Europe in 2010 in light of the ongoing sovereign debt crisis and uncertainties there.

KeyCorp (KEY), Lincoln National (LNC), Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLF) Soar After Jobless Claims Improvement

Shares of KeyCorp (NYSE:KEY), Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) and Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSEArca:XLF) got a boost today after data was released showing jobless claims had fallen.

Financial stocks joined in the broad U.S. equities rally Thursday as a solid jobless-claims update boosted expectations for what February data on nonfarm payrolls and unemployment will show.

The Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLF) jumped nearly 2%, as every component of the exchange-traded fund was in the green.

KeyCorp (KEY) ranked among the top performers, scoring a 2.4% gain. Dow Jones Newswires reported “some murky takeover speculation” for the regional-banking company.

A big contributor to the trading tone on Wall Street, first-time jobless claims fell by 20,000 to 368,000 in the latest week, the Labor Department said before the opening bell. New applications thus dropped to their lowest level in nearly three years.

“Fewer layoffs don’t necessarily mean grand hiring in a given month, we caution, but clearly the improvement in the pace of weakness in labor is reflected here,” said David Ader, head of government-bond strategy at CRT Capital Group.

The government’s payrolls data are due out early Friday.




Full Story

Bearish Outlook on BAC, C, KEY, PNC, STT

Outlook for BAC, C, KEY, STT, PNC

The selection of the five banking firms below is based on the following supportive data as well as both their short and longer-term price and earnings performance. I expect these companies to have improved earnings, but I do not have the confidence, price-wise to take new bullish positions.

For guidance, I normally compare most all securities with Apple (AAPL). When the securities get close (in my three disciplines) I buy them confidently. Those disciplines are my weighted fundamental, technical and consensus analysis. I also have just two categories of investments. These are a mix of “Bellwether” and “High Profile" companies and are rated and compared below with brief comments.

The market is doing what it loves to do

Lately, that means it is both fundamentally and technically very fickle. What many investors often forget is that what appears to be a fact is, in reality, very creative fiction. The fictional stories being told by Wall Street and the media are so compelling that the average investor takes the hook, line and sinker most every time. That’s a fact and, for me, it is a very sad commentary.

Rest of Story ...

Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC), AIG (NYSE:AIG) Drag Financials Down

The overall financial sector in the U.S. is under downward pressure, dragged down by Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) and AIG (NYSE:AIG).

Wells Fargo fell on the abrupt news Chief Financial Officer Howard Atkins was retiring for personal reasons. Atkins had been indispensable over the last several years to the company, and his leaving is a real blow to Wells.

AIG dropped after the company announced it was going to book $4.1 billion charge in the fourth quarter while increasing reserves at its property and casualty insurance units.

Also falling in the financial sector was KeyCorp (NYSE:KEY), after being downgraded from "Outperform" to "Sector Perform" by RBC Capital.

KeyCorp was trading at $9.49, down $0.22, or 2.27 percent, as of 2:04 PM EST. AIG was at $41.22, losing $1.15, or 2.71 percent. Wells Fargo was trading at $33.00, falling $1.10, or 3.23 percent.

KeyCorp (NYSE:KEY) Core Metrics Will Struggle to Improve in Short Term

Most of the positive performance of KeyCorp (NYSE:KEY), as with many banks, is centered around reserve releases, and for KeyCorp, Barclays sees them struggling to improve their core metrics in the short term.

Barclays says, "Bottom-line, KEY's recent strong earnings growth and return to profitability (3rd straight quarter) has been primarily reserve release driven, as credit quality continues to improve. While its reported ROA of 1.53% and ROE of 13.71% appear sound, excluding one-time items and using a 0.60% provision/loan ratio puts its ROA closer to 0.85% and its ROE at 7%. With its exit portfolio/discontinued ops equaling 15% of earning assets (24% of loans) and securities at 29% of earning assets (up from 11% just 6 quarters ago), coupled with an expectation of net interest margin pressure, it could have difficultly improving these core metrics near-term. Still, we view its capital position as sound and its TARP commentary as constructive...We are maintaining our above consensus 2011 EPS forecast of $0.75. Our inaugural 2012 EPS estimate is $1.00."

Barclays reiterates an "Underweight" rating on KeyCorp (KEY), which closed Wednesday at $8.89, dropping $0.02, or 0.22 percent. Barclays has a price target of $9 on KeyCorp.

KeyCorp's (NYSE:KEY) Earnings Power Remains a Major Concern

KeyCorp (NYSE:KEY) had a solid last quarter, but according to FBR, there are concerns over the earnings power of the bank going forward.

FBR says, "Although this was another decent quarter for KeyCorp, the significant drop in NPAs is not surprising given the company’s propensity to build reserves earlier in the credit cycle than most banks. However, our primary concern with KeyCorp is earnings power given continued de-leveraging and weaker-than-expected NIM. KeyCorp has been shedding problem assets quickly and, given the limited loan demand, the balance sheet is shrinking fairly rapidly.

"We are increasing our FY11 operating EPS to $0.55 from $0.39 given our expectation for KeyCorp to raise capital and pay back TARP in the next few months. We are also introducing our FY12 operating EPS estimate of $0.80."

FBR Capital maintains a "Market Perform" rating on KeyCorp (KEY), which was trading at $8.88, down $0.03, or 0.34 percent, as of 12:50 PM EST. FBR has a price target of $9 on them.

KeyCorp (NYSE:KEY) Running Out of Earnings Catalysts?

While KeyCorp (NYSE:KEY) has had some strong earnings growth recently, it has mostly come from its reserve release. Barclays says they now need to prove they can pull other earnings levers going forward.

Barclays said, "KeyCorp's recent strong earnings growth and return to profitability has been primarily reserve release driven, as credit quality continues to improve. However, with a provision/loans ratio (0.72% at 3Q) already approaching its "normalized" target (NCO of 40-50bps), KEY needs to show it has other earnings levers to pull...We look for KEY to point to a continuation of its improving asset quality trends, reiterate its expectations for loan balances to continue declining over the next several quarters, and speak to its expected progress on its "Keyvolution" expense saving initiatives.

"Still, this marks its first earning call since Beth Mooney was named CEO (effective May 1). With credit quality on the mend, we expect investors to shift their attention to growth, a feat that has remained elusive in the past. At some point, we expect Mooney to outline an updated vision and goals."

Barclays maintains an "Underweight" on KeyCorp, which closed Tuesday at $8.68, up $0.02, or 0.23 percent, Barclays has a price target of $9 on the company.