KBW Lowered Bank Earnings Expectations (BAC, C, GS, JPM, MS)

If there is a banking and financial boutique that investors pay attention to, it is Keefe Bruyette & Woods.  The firm is out with a note trimming fourth quarter bank earnings, handily cutting estimates in some cases.  The firm sees a considerably light earnings report from Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC) but bank stocks are rising this Tuesday as investors gobble up the most battered names of 2011 in hops to make money in 2012. KBW lowered estimates as follows:

Citigroup, Inc. (NYSE: C) to $0.45 EPS from $0.75 EPS;

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) to $1.35 EPS from $2.35 EPS;

J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) to $0.80 EPS from $0.95 EPS;

Morgan Stanley was moved lower to a loss (conflicting numbers from source to source so we are not including the estimate) from $0.30 EPS.

The good news is that KBW does note that valuations of the key firms are attractive even though the negative report cites that investors and clients cut their activity toward the end of the quarter more than expected.