Posts for Ticker ‘RF’

Paulson Takes Huge Stake In Citigoup, Dumps Goldman

Money ImageJohn 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 on: November 13, 2009 – 5:50 pm in Activist Investor, Banking, Financial Stocks, , , , , , , , , , , ,

9 Of 10 Bank Holding Companies Make The Cut

Yesterday, the Federal Reserve reported that 9 out of 10 bank holding companies that were required to raise additional capital to bolster their balance sheets have successfully done so.  The Supervisory Capital Assessment Program (SCAP) had determined in May that these needed to raise $74.6 billion by November 9th.  This was achieved through new issuance of equity in the amount of $39 billion, conversion of existing preferred equity to common equity amounting to $23 billion, and the sale businesses and assets amounting to 9$ billion.  The ten bank holding companies that were required to raise additional capital were: Banks of America (NYSE: BAC), Citigroup (NYSE: C), Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ: FITB), GMAC LLC, KeyCorp (NYSE: KEY), Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS), PNC Financial Services (NYSE: PNC), Regions Financial (NYSE: RF), SunTrust (NYSE: STI), and Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC).

Of the ten the one laggard was GMAC, which failed to raise the necessary funds.  The May SCAP report indicated that GMAC needed to buffer its balance sheet with an additional $11.5 billion in Tier 1 capital.  The Federal Reserve expects the troubled mortgage and auto loan originator to fill in its funding gap by accessing the TARP Automotive Industry Financing Program.

Garrett W. McIntyre

Posted on: November 10, 2009 – 9:08 am in Banking, Financial Stocks, , , , , , , , , , ,

Top 10 Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (AZN, BDN, CHA, HURN, PRU, PETM, RF, SOL, RDS-B, TWB, UA)

These are Thursday’s top ten analyst research summary upgrades, downgrades, and initiations from Wall Street brokerage firms:

AstraZeneca (AZN) Cut to Hold at Citigroup.
Brandywine Realty (BDN) Cut to Neutral at BofA/Merrill Lynch.
China Telecom (CHA) Raised to Hold from Sell at Deutsche Bank.
Huron Consulting (HURN) Raised to Neutral from Underperform at at Baird.
Prudential (PRU) Raised to Outperform at FBR.
PetSmart (PETM) Cut to Neutral from Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Regions Financial (RF) Cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank.
ReneSola (SOL) Raised to Buy from Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
Royal Dutch Shell (RDS-B) Raised to Buy at Citigroup.
Tween Brands (TWB) Raised to Hold from Sell at Citigroup.
Under Armour (UA) Cut to Underweight from Hold at KeyBanc.

JON C. OGG
August 20, 2009

Posted on: August 20, 2009 – 7:48 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , , , , , , ,

Top Day Trader Alerts (GSIC, BPAX, PALM, MPEL, C, RF)

These are this morning’s top day trader alert stocks and actively traded stock movers.  We have more detailed price and volume analysis with links to each over at VSInvestor.com:

GSI Commerce Inc. (NASDAQ: GSIC) is down almost 5% on a juiced up secondary offering.

BioSante Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: BPAX) is up over 30% on positive Phase III safety data.

Palm Inc. (NASDAQ: PALM) is down over 4% early on an analyst downgrade.

Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd. (NASDAQ: MPEL) is likely to have the most active day of 2009 on its secondary.

Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) was up 3% but the most active on NYSE on an internal management review process.

Regions Financial (NYSE: RF) was the biggest winner of the John Paulson added-banks.

JON C. OGG
AUGUST 12, 2009

Posted on: August 13, 2009 – 9:06 am in Pre-Market Activity, Trading Alert, , , , , ,

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

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: Read More »

Posted on: August 12, 2009 – 5:11 pm in Activist Investor, Banking, Financial Stocks, Insider Activity, , , , , , , , , , , ,

Short Interest Highlights: Out Of Banks And Into GE (GE)

bearShort sellers are will to bet, at least for now, that the worst of the banking earning crisis is over. Short interest in a number of large financial companies fell sharply for the period ending July 15.

Shares sold short in AIG (AIG) fell 91% to 21.9 million. The short interest in Bank of America (BAC) fell 18% to 89.7 million. Shares sold short in Freddie Mac (FRE) dropped 18% to 65.9 million. The short interest in Wells Fargo (WFC) was down 11% to 108 million. Shares sold short in Visa (V) were off 42% to 18.9 million. Read More »

Posted on: July 25, 2009 – 10:00 am in Editor's Picks, Short Interest, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Short Sellers Target Big Financial Names (BAC)(AIG)(WFC)(FRE)

bearShort sellers upped their investments in stocks of the most prominent financial firms. Short interest in Bank of America (BAC), AIG (AIG), Wells Fargo (WFC), and Freddie Mac (FRE) all rose for the period ending June 30.

Short sellers also increased position in several regional  banks. Short interest in KeyCorp (KEY) rose 31% to 38.1 million. Shares sold short in Regions Financial (RF) were up 13% to 65.9 million. Shares short in Bank of NY Mellon (BK) rose 31% to 14.2 million, and the short interest in Huntington Bancshares (HBAN) rose 75% to 58.8 million. Read More »

Posted on: July 11, 2009 – 5:24 am in Short Interest, , , , , , , , , , , ,

Heads Of Bailed Out Firms Still Love Their Private Jets

airplaneThe 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. Read More »

Posted on: June 19, 2009 – 3:56 am in Banking, Compensation, , , , , ,

S&P Looking For More Bank Losses (WFC, CMA, USB, BBT, RF, COF, FITB, HBAN, SNV, WTNY, FAS)

burning-money-picStandard & Poor’s may still have at least some relevance in its debt ratings.  This morning we saw a wave of downgrades at banks by the debt ratings agency on systematic-risk and non-systematic risk.   We tried to shorten this up to the most concise report in rating groups as this is hitting many of the bank stocks pretty hard this morning. Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC), Comerica (NYSE: CMA), USBancorp (NYSE: USB), BB&T Corp. (NYSE: BBT), Regions Financial Corp. (NYSE: RF), Capital One Financial Corp. (NYSE: COF), Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ: FITB), Huntington Bancshares Inc. (NASDAQ: HBAN), Synovus Financial Corp. (NYSE: SNV) and Whitney Holding Corp. (NASDAQ: WTNY) were all in the wave of S&P downgrades.  This news has the extremely volatile Direxion Daily Financial Bull 3X Shares (NYSE: FAS) triple leverage financial sector ETF down 7% at $8.60.
Read More »

Posted on: June 17, 2009 – 11:40 am in Analyst Calls, Banking, Financial Stocks, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Top Analyst Upgrades (BBBY, MAPP, ISLE, OMX, PCZ, RF, SPLS, SYMC)

These are the top pre-market analyst upgrades and positive research calls we have seen from Wall Street firms this Wednesday morning:

Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY) Started as Outperform at Oppenheimer.
MAP Pharmaceuticals (MAPP) Raised to Buy at Deutsche Bank.
Isle of Capri (ISLE) Raised to Outperform at oppenheimer.
OfficeMax (OMX) Started as Outperform at Oppenheimer.
Petro-Canada (PCZ) Raised to Overweight at Barclays.
Regions Financial (RF) Raised to Buy at Deutsche Bank.
Staples (SPLS) Started as Outperform at Oppenheimer.
Symantec (SYMC) Raised to Outperform at Morgan Keegan.

JON C. OGG

Posted on: May 27, 2009 – 6:58 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , , , ,

Stress Test Results, Bank by Bank (AXP, BBT, BAC, COF, C, FITB, GS, JPM, KEY, MET, MS, PNC, RF, STT, STI, USB, WFC)

Finally, the stress tests are out for the US banking and financial institutions.  Of the banks, 10 of 19 banks need a combined $74 billion of equity.The good news is that a few companies were given essentially a clean bill of health, such as American Express Company (AXP), BB&T Corp. (BBT), Bank of New York Mellon Corporation (BK), Capital One Financial Corp. (COF), Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS), JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM), MetLife, Inc. (MET), State Street Corp. (STT), and USBancorp (USB).

We have broken these down in a single unified and summarized report that shows each bank or financial institution along with an estimated market cap to show what the capital requirements are as far as what each bank will need to raise versus what shareholders already have at stake.   We summarized the list below, and be advised that the tier 1 capital is the total tier 1 capital rather than the Tier 1 Common Capital.  Also be advised that the SCAP BUFFER is the term used for the capital needed to be raised, and that is inclusive of capital raised and from infusions.
Read More »

Posted on: May 7, 2009 – 4:59 pm in Banking, Financial Stocks, Regulation, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Ten Women Who Should Be Big Company CEOs

jp-morganTwelve of the Fortune 500 CEOs are women. Just twelve. Over the next year, that number is likely to go up considerably because of a confluence of economic and financial factors that have not existed in years. The first of those is that because of the economy there will probably be higher turnover rates of chief executives at large companies. Next, there are a relatively large number of extremely talented women in the tier of senior management just below the CEO level.  Many of these women who are in the No.2 or No.3 spots at their firms are the same age or older than their current CEOs.  It is then very unlikely that they will become CEO at their current firm. Read More »

Posted on: May 6, 2009 – 8:46 pm in Airlines, Banking, Management Change, Retail, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Rumors The Ten Of 19 Banks Failed “Stress Tests” (WFC)(BAC)(C)

bank4Several news organizations are reporting that ten of the 19 banks subjected to “stress tests” will be asked to raise more capital. Since the firms are still debating with the government, the number could change. It is not clear whether the problem can be solved, at last at some of the banks, by converting preferred shares to common, which would cause significant dilution for existing shareholders.

Among the largest banks on the list of those that will need new capital are Bank of America (BAC), Citigroup (C), and Wells Fargo (WFC). Read More »

Posted on: May 5, 2009 – 4:35 am in Banking, , , , , ,

Regions Financial (RF), Fifth Third (FITB), And Keycorp (KEY) Are Probably Banks That Failed Stress Test

angrybear2Experts have told The Wall Street Journal that they think several of the banks which failed the government’s stress tests are in the Midwest and Southeast. According to the paper, “Three people familiar with the matter said at least three banks are in this position.”

Depending which states are included in those “regions”, the list of possible financial firms on the government’s list would be between six and eight. Read More »

Posted on: April 25, 2009 – 8:59 am in Banking, , ,

Regions Claims Profitability, Slips A Mickey To Bears (RF)

money-stack-image36Regions Financial Corp. (NYSE: RF) filed its annual meeting presentation this morning in an SEC filing, and in that filing, C. Dowd Ritter, Chairman, President and CEO, announced that Regions will report a profit for the quarter ended March 31, 2009.   Regions gave preliminary information prior to the scheduled earnings announcement date, but it noted that investors should not expect future quarter guidance in advance of scheduled quarterly earnings announcement dates.

Read More »

Posted on: April 16, 2009 – 10:55 am in Banking, Dividend, Earnings,

Early Bird Analyst Calls (BBBY, BBT, FHN, LCAPA, OIIM, RF, STI, UHS)

These are some of the early bird analyst upgrades and downgrades we have seen on Wall Street this Thursday morning ahead of the long weekend:

Bed Bath & Beyond (NASDAQ: BBBY) Cut to Neutral at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey.
BB&T (NYSE: BBT) Cut to Underperform at KBW.
First Horizon National (NYSE: FHN) Cut to Underperform at KBW.
Liberty Media Capital (NASDAQ: LCAPA) Raised to Buy at Deutsche Bank.
O2 Micro (NASDAQ: OIIM) Cut to Underweight at Morgan Stanley.
Regions Financial (NYSE: RF) Cut to Market Perform at KBW.
SunTrust (NYSE: STI) Raised to Outperform at KBW.
Universal Health (NYSE: UHS) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.

Jon C. Ogg

Posted on: April 9, 2009 – 6:19 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , , , ,

Top 10 Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (T, DRYS, XOM, ITT, MOT, VZ, HBAN, RF, WMB, ZION)

These are ten of the top analyst upgrades and downgrades from Wall Street this Monday morning with more than two hours until the market opens:

  • AT&T (T) Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.
  • DryShips (DRYS) Raised to Perform at Oppenheimer.
  • Exxon Mobil (XOM) Raised to Buy at Deutsche Bank.
  • ITT (ITT) Raised to Neutral at JPMorgan.
  • Motorola (MOT) Raised to Neutral at Credit Suisse.
  • Verizon (VZ) Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.
  • Huntington Bancshares (HBAN) Cut to Hold at Citigroup.
  • Regions Financial (RF) Cut to Hold at Citigroup.
  • Williams Cos. (WMB) Cut to Underperform at RBX.
  • Zions Bancorp (ZION) Cut to Hold at Citigroup.

Jon C. Ogg
February 23, 2009

Posted on: February 23, 2009 – 7:29 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , , , , , ,

The 52-Week Low Club (IP)(MAT)(HAS)(ADCT)(HBAN)(RF)(NCX)

Sad_clownNOVA Chemicals (NCX) Ratings cut pushes shares down to $1.28 compard to a 52-week high of $32.46.

Regions Financial (RF) Still falling after analyst downgrades. Falls to $2.67 from 52-week high of $25.84.

International Paper (IP) Cut by Goldman Sachs. Drops to $7.87 from 52-week high of $33.77.

Hasbro (HAS) May be reaction to bad earnings at Mattel (MAT) HAS off to $21.68 from 52-week high of $41.68.

A D C Telecommunications (ADCT) Bad outlook. Big earnings charge. Drops to $3.20 from 52-week high of $17.45.

Huntington Bancshares (HBAN) Dragged down by banking sector. Hits $1.93, down from 52-week high of $14.13.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Posted on: February 2, 2009 – 4:44 pm in HI/LOW, , , , , ,

The 52-Week Low Club (RF)(SNV)(IP)(FITB)(CENX)

Sad_clownNOVA Chemicals  (NCX) Bad Q4 and a downgrade by RBC. Falls to $3 from 52-week high of $32.46.

Regions Financial (RF) Downgrade by Bernstein. Runs off to $3.40 from a 52-week high of $25.84.

Synovus Financial (SNV) Bad analyst call. Drops to $3.88 from 52-week high of $13.58.

International Paper (IP) Big quarterly loss. Sells off to $9.06 from 52-week high $33.77.

Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB) Bernstein downgrade sends shares plunging to $2.36 from 52-week high of $28.58.

Century Aluminum (CENX) Company plans to sell more stock. Dips to $3.43 from 52-week high of $80.52.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Posted on: January 30, 2009 – 4:05 pm in HI/LOW, , , , ,

Top Pre-Market Analyst Downgrades (ALL, AZN, ETFC, FITB, JNPR, QCOM, RF, RYAAY, SEPR, HOT, TKR, TWC, TROW, UA, VE, ZNT)

These are some of the many pre-market downgrades and negative calls we have seen from Wall Street analysts this Friday morning:
Allstate (ALL) Cut to Underweight at JPMorgan.
AstraZeneca (AZN) Cut to Hold at Citigroup.
E*TRADE (ETFC) Cut to Underperform at Raymond James.
Fifth Third (FITB) Cut to Market Perform at Bernstein.
Juniper Networks (JNPR) Cut to Neutral at Piper Jaffray.
Qualcomm (QCOM) Cut to Hold at Societe Generale.
Regions Financial (RF) Cut to Market Perform at Bernstein.
Ryanair (RYAAY) Cut to Hold at Citigroup.
Sepracor (SEPR) Cut to Sell at Piper Jaffray.
Starwood Hotels (HOT) Cut to Perform at Oppenheimer.
Timken (TKR) Cut to Hold at KeyBanc.
Time Warner Cable (TWC) Cut to Sell at Collins Stewart.
T. Rowe Price (TROW) Cut to Underweight at JPMorgan.
Under Armour (UA) Cut to Sell at Piper Jaffray.
Veolia Environnement (VE) Cut to Sell at Citigroup.
Zenith National Insurance (ZNT) Cut to Market Perform at FBR; Cut to Perform at Oppenheimer.
Jon C. Ogg
January 30, 2009

Posted on: January 30, 2009 – 8:01 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,