24/7 Wall St. » MI

Paulson Takes Huge Stake In Citigoup, Dumps Goldman

247wallst — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 22:50:12 +0000

John Paulson is rather notorious, and wealthy, for how much he picked up by shorting financial stocks on the way down. But the financial world found out in August that Paulson & Co. had bought up many key financial and banking stocks. Paulson & Co. Inc. is out with a 13-F filing after the close showing he is still in many key financial stocks.

The famed hedge fund manager took a massive stake in Citigroup and sold his entire interest in Goldman Sachs

Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) was listed as 159,794,229 shares, down from 167,990,464 shares.
Capital One Financial Corp. (NYSE: COF) was static as a stake of 17,000,000 shares of common stock.
Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) is listed as 300,000,000 (three-hundred million) of common stock.
Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ: FITB) was static as a 5,000,000 share stake.
First Horizon National Corp. (NYSE: FHN) was 7.11 million, up from a stake of 3,000,000 shares in August.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) was down to 2,000,000 shares, down from an August stake of 7,000,000 shares of common stock.
Marshall & Ilsley Corp. (NYSE: MI) was static at 12,000,000 shares of common stock.
People’s United Financial Inc. (NASDAQ: PBCT) was static at 2,750,000 shares of common stock.
Regions Financial Corp. (NYSE: RF) was static at 35,000,000 shares of common stock.
SunTrust Bank Inc. (NYSE: STI) was static at 1,500,000 shares of common stock.

We had also noted back in October how Conseco, Inc. (NYSE: CNO) had scored a Paulson investment.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) was NOT in the new filing compared to the August filing where he listed 2,000,000 shares of common stock in the August filing. State Street Corp. (NYSE: STT) was NOT in the filing versus a stake of 700,000 shares of common stock in August.

JON C. OGG

Posted in Activist Investor, Banking, Financial Stocks Tagged: BAC, C, COF, FHN, FITB, GS, JPM, MI, PBCT, RF, STI, STT

Key Secondary Offerings (BEXP, MAC, MI, NARA, WTNY, EURX)

247wallst — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 13:28:08 +0000

We have many key secondary offerings on deck today. Brigham Exploration (NASDAQ: BEXP), Macerich Co. (NYSE: MAC), Marshall & Ilsley (NYSE: MI), Nara Bancorp (NASDAQ: NARA), and Whitney Holding (NASDAQ: WTNY) all priced secondary offerings. Eurand NV (NASDAQ: EURX) is also on deck with a secondary offering, but no formal pricing has yet been seen.

Brigham Exploration Co. (NASDAQ: BEXP) priced a 16 million shares secondary offering (above the 14 million original amount) at $10.50 per share after closing at $10.68 yesterday. Credit Suisse and Jefferies underwrote this one.

Macerich Co. (NYSE: MAC) priced a 12 million shares secondary offering at $29.00 per share through Deutsche Bank and J.P. Morgan. This REIT closed at $29.81 yesterday and is actually trading above $30.00 on the pricing.

Marshall & Ilsley (NYSE: MI) looks like the largest secondary of the day at $782 million raised. The financial services company priced a 136 million share secondary offering at $5.75 per share after a $6.01 close. Morgan Stanley and Bank of America Merrill Lynch were underwriters here.

Nara Bancorp (NASDAQ: NARA) sold 10 million shares of common stock at $7.50 per share in a deal sold through Keefe Bruyette & Woods. Shares closed at $8.00 yesterday and are trading around $7.75.

Whitney Holding Corp. (NASDAQ: WTNY) priced a 25 million shares secondary offering at $8.00 per share after closing at $8.30 yesterday. There was a large sales group here from J.P. Morgan and SunTrust Robinson Humphrey as joint book-running managers; co-managers were listed as Keefe Bruyette & Woods and Sandler O’Neill.

Eurand NV (NASDAQ: EURX) is on deck for an 8.5 million shares secondary offering from Deutsche Bank and Bank of America Merrill Lynch, but no formal pricing has been seen.

JON C. OGG
OCTOBER 22, 2009

Posted in Banking, Secondary Offering Tagged: BEXP, EURX, MAC, MI, NARA, WTNY

Paulson, Esteemed Bank Short Seller, Now Long Financials (BAC, COF, GS, JPM, FITB, FHN, MI, PBCT, SKF, RF, STT, STI)

247wallst — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 21:11:22 +0000

John Paulson has been well known as a hedge fund manager because of the profits he made from short selling many of the key financial stocks. Yet his new filing shows a large long position as of the quarter-end June 30, 2009. For example, it lists a huge stake in Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC). There were many smaller company stakes, but some of the medium-sized stakes (for Paulson that is) are in Capital One Financial Corp. (NYSE: COF), Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS), and JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM). Below are the rest of his financial holdings:

Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) was listed as some $2.217474 billion stake via 167,990,464 shares.
Capital One Financial Corp. (NYSE: COF) was listed as $371.960 million via a stake of 17,000,000 shares of common stock.
Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ: FITB) was listed as $35.5 million via a 5,000,000 share stake.
First Horizon National Corp. (NYSE: FHN) was listed as $36 million via stake of 3,000,000 shares of common stock.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) was listed as $294.88 million via a stake of some 2,000,000 shares of common stock.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) was listed as $238.77 million via a stake of 7,000,000 shares of common stock.
Marshall & Ilsley Corp. (NYSE: MI) was listed as $57.6 million via a stake of 12,000,000 shares of common stock.
People’s United Financial Inc. (NASDAQ: PBCT) was listed as $41.443 million via stake of 2,750,000 shares of common stock.
Ultrashort Financial ProShars (NYSE: SKF) was listed as $83.58 million via some 2,000,000 shares.
Regions Financial Corp. (NYSE: RF) was listed as $141.4 million via a stake of 35,000,000 shares of common stock.
State Street Corp. (NYSE: STT) was listed as $33.04 million via a stake of 700,000 shares of common stock.
Suntrust Bank Inc. (NYSE: STI) was listed as $24.675 million via a stake of 1,500,000 shares of common stock.

The FULL SEC FILING is here, and there are many non-financial stocks in there.

JON C. OGG
AUGUST 12, 2009

Posted in Activist Investor, Banking, Financial Stocks, Insider Activity Tagged: BAC, COF, FHN, FITB, GS, JPM, MI, PBCT, RF, SKF, STI, STT

Heads Of Bailed Out Firms Still Love Their Private Jets

247wallst — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 08:56:12 +0000

The Wall Street Journal, in a bit of investigative reporting, found that the CEOs of companies that have received federal bailout funds are still having fun using their firms’ private jets. Or, in some cases, these executives make the case that it is better to use the jets than fly commercial.

The situation is not as bad as the paper makes it out to be.

CEOs have to pay taxes on their personal use of planes and they have to pay their companies for the cost of operating the aircraft. In either case, it is not has if flying to a vacation home is free. Why shouldn’t a person who has spent 30 years working his way up the ladder not get a few choice benefits?

Business use of small jets is often much more efficient than flying commercial. Getting from a factory in Akron to a distribution center in Boise can take a whole day, if not longer, on commercial flights. A CEO making $7 million a year is earnings almost $30,000 a day. And, he may have other senior executives with him. Is it worth it to have a management team that costs a company and its shareholders $100,000 sitting in a remote airport waiting for the next commuter plane?

Executive use of company jets is a red herring. Jets save time. That has been the case for the 30 plus years since Gulfstream and other private aircraft firms started marketing small, fast planes. CEOs know that the public and shareholders are watching, which means that are likely to be judicious in putting together their plans before they step aboard that G-IV. (BAC)(MS)(C)(PNC)(MI)(RF)

Douglas A. McIntyre

Posted in Banking, Compensation Tagged: BAC, C, MI, MS, PNC, RF

Secondary Issuers Getting Hit (AMP, ATPG, ERIC, MI, VMC)

247wallst — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 15:24:45 +0000

We are seeing some active trading in the stocks which raised capital via secondary offerings today. These are all down except for one and today’s hopper has Ameriprise Financial Inc. (NYSE: AMP), ATP Oil & Gas Corp. (NASDAQ: ATPG), LM Ericsson Telephone Co. (NASDAQ: ERIC), Marshall & Ilsley Corporation (NYSE: MI), and Vulcan Materials Company (NYSE: VMC).

Ameriprise Financial Inc. (NYSE: AMP) priced a 36 million share secondary offering of common stock at $25.00 per share. That $900 million gross amount of proceeds compares to a market cap of roughly $5.4 billion before the offering. Shares are down about 4% at $24.65. Its 52-week trading range is $11.74 to $49.76, but this was a $30 stock just last week.

ATP Oil & Gas Corp. (NASDAQ: ATPG) priced its secondary offering of 8.75 million shares of common stock at $8.25 per share after closing at $8.64 yesterday and being north of $9.00 just two days ago.The size of this offering was increased from 7.25 million shares and it held up better than we might have guessed despite today’s drop. Shares are down by 4.5% at $8.25 and its 52-week range is $2.75 to $44.12. Before this offering, we show its market cap was around $300 million.

LM Ericsson Telephone Co. (NASDAQ: ERIC) is down 1% at $9.53, but the drop may be on the Barclays downgrade as this is a refinancing of a bilateral loan with the Swedish Export Credit Corporation and partially backed by the Swedish Export Credit Guarantee Board. It intends to use the proceeds of the offering to refinance bonds maturing within the current and next year and for general corporate purposes. We say the downgrade has more to do with this than anything.

Marshall & Ilsley Corporation (NYSE: MI) sold 87 million shares of common stock in a secondary offering at $5.75 per share. This is trading above the price of the offering but is off 2% at $6.00 this morning after closing at $6.14 yesterday. Its 52-week range is $2.98 to $29.97 and its market cap before this offering is listed as almost $1.6 billion.

Vulcan Materials Company (NYSE: VMC) is actually a standout stock from the group, odd considering the unusual dividend activity. Its shares are higher after pricing 11.5 million shares of common stock at $41.00 per share. Based on the trading, it is a safe bet that underwriters took the 1.725 million additional shares in the overallotment (Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, J.P.Morgan, and Wachovia). This was a deep discount, but the good news for Vulcan is that shares are up 7.5% at $45.90.

Jon C. Ogg
June 12, 2009

Posted in Secondary Offering, Trading Alert Tagged: AMP, ATPG, ERIC, MI, VMC

The 52-Week Low Club (MI)(STI)(MGM)(AIG)(COF)(PRGO)

247wallst — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 22:04:38 +0000

Marshall & Ilsley (MI) Dragged down by big drop in financial sector. Hits a low of $3.47 off a 52-week high of $29.97.

SunTrust Banks (STI) Credit concerns cause big sell-off in regional banks. Drops to $8.84 from 52-week high of $67.25.

MGM Mirage (MGM) Moody’ cuts rating. Sells down to $6.555 from 52-week high of $75.08.

American International Group (AIG) Will federal government have to dump more money in? Sells off to $1 from 52-week high of $55.96.

Capital One (COF) CEO to forgo pay, but that is the only good news. Credit write-offs just off stage. Drops to $14.82 from 52-week high of $63.50.

Perrigo (PRGO) Poor quarterly results and forecast. Down to $22.11 from 52-week high of $43.08.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Posted in HI/LOW Tagged: AIG, COF, MGM, MI, PRGO, STI

UBS Echoes Meredith Whitney: More 2009 Bank Losses (CMA, FHN, FITB, KEY, MI, RF, ZION, BAC, WFC, JPM)

247wallst — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 13:47:46 +0000

UBS has a research report out for the banking sector, and the report may take away some thunder from those who are hoping that banks will return to profits sooner rather than later. This estimates that large banks are likely to report losses in the fourth quarter and next year. It also notes that many banks need to cut their sacred dividends even further. Most of these banking stocks are trading lower today.

UBS analyst Matthew O’Connor is looking for the loss cycle incommercial loans to get worse. UBS cut 2009 earnings estimatessharply. The cuts were for more than half for those banks stillexpected to run at profitable levels. UBS nowexpects 7 of the 16 large banks covered in its report to post full-year losses. Thenew earnings forecasts for 2009 are now on average about 60% below theconsensus estimates.

The list of banks UBS now expects to lose money for in 2009 areComerica Inc. (NYSE: CMA), First Horizon National Corp. (NYSE: FHN),Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ: FITB), Keycorp (NYSE: KEY), Marshall &Ilsley Corp. (NYSE: MI), Regions Financial Corp. (NYSE: RF) and ZionsBancorp (NASDAQ: ZION).

Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC), Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) and JPMorganChase (NYSE: JPM) were among the banks still expected to turn a profitnext year, albeit at much lower levels.

UBS also noted that most banks will likely cut their dividends before the cycle turns. Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC), Marshall & Ilsley (NYSE: MI),SunTrust Banks Inc. (NYSE: STI) and Zions Bancorp. (NASDAQ: ZION) are the most at risk for dividend cuts.

UBS is now looking for a severe credit cycle in commercial andcommercial real estate. Commercial loan losses are now targeted at 2%from 1.5%, and peak credit card losses are now targeted at 9% ratherthan 8%. Loan loss reserve builds are now expected to reach 2% to 2.5%of assets by the middle of 2009 rather than a prior target of 1.7%.

UBS now expects bank revenues to decline from lower net interestmargins. That would come from continued competition in attracting newdeposits at the same time as trading and capital market revenues arelower. The weak economy is also expected to further crimp the servicefees.

It looks like all of the major banking stocks are trading lower today.

Jon C. Ogg
December 11, 2008

Posted in Analyst Calls, Banking, Financial Stocks Tagged: BAC, CMA, FHN, FITB, JPM, KEY, MI, RF, WFC, ZION

The 52-Week Low Club (MNI)(BAC)(C)(MER)(GHS)(MI)(FRE)(FNM)

247wallst — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 14:50:33 +0000

Fannie Mae (FNM) hit by rumors that it and Freddie Mac may have to raise $75 billion. Drops to $14.65 from 52-week high of $70.57.

Freddie Mac (FRE) sells down to $10.28 from 52-week high of $67.20.

Marshall & Ilsley (MI) Analyst predicts loss for company. Dips to $12.24 from 52-week high of $48.37.

Gatehouse (GHS) The plight of debt-laden newspapers gets worse. Sells off to $2.13 from 52-week high of $19.10.

Merrill Lynch (MER) may have to raise more money. Moves down to $29.84 from 52-week high of $89.23.

Citigroup (C) hits a new low almost every day. Drops to $15.80 from 52-week high of $52.97.

Bank of America (BAC) gets sucked under by sell-off in financials. Dips to $21.10 from 52-week high of $52.96.

McClatchy (MNI) Another newspaper company hits bottom at $5.11 from 52-week high of $28.73.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Goldman Sachs Conviction List Changes (LO, STT, MI, NGG)

247wallst — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 06:42:02 +0000

Goldman Sachs has made some changes to its highly watched "CONVICTION" lists this morning.

Lorillard (NYSE: LO) and State Street (NYSE: STT) were both added to the CONVICTION BUY LIST this morning.
Marshall & Ilsley (NYSE: MI) and National Grid (NYSE: NGG) were put on the bulge bracket firms CONVICTION SELL LIST this morning.

Jon C. Ogg
June 11, 2008

Goldman Sachs Pans Financials (FNM, FRE, MI, JPM, BSC, LEH, MER, WM)

247wallst — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 09:04:33 +0000

Goldman Sachs has made some key downgrades in the financial sector today. The firm has cut both Fannie Mae (NYSE: FNM) and Freddie mac (NYSE: FRE) from an already "neutral" rating, with implied negative, down to the loathed "SELL" rating.

It has also removed it rating on Marshall & Ilsley (NYSE: MI) down to a Neutral from a Buy rating.

Goldman Sachs has also lowered estimates on Bear Stearns (NYSE: BSC), J.P.Morgan Chase (NYSE: JPM), Lehman Brothers (NYSE: LEH), Merrill Lynch (NYSE: MER), Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS), and Washington Mutual (NYSE: WM). Others were hit as well, but these are the major calls.

The firm wants investors to stay defensive regardless of bailout pacts. It believes that Freddie mac is a short ahead of earnings this week and believes you can own a Put Spread in Wa-Mu.

Jon C. Ogg
February 25, 2008