Continue reading BB&T (BBT) earnings won't be hurt by Colonial takeover

BB&T (BBT) earnings won't be hurt by Colonial takeover originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 18 Aug 2009 13:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Earlier today, Colonial BancGroup (NYSE: CNB) fell nearly 12% to 41 cents per share before trading was halted pending a news announcement. As it turns out, the troubled bank is being taken into receivership by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC), while BB&T Corporation (NYSE: BBT) will acquire all of CNB's branches and deposits.

The announcement comes on the heels of a report in The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) that a federal judge has granted a temporary restraining order to freeze $1 billion of Colonial BancGroup's assets. The decision comes after Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) filed suit against CNB, seeking to protect its rights as trustee to $1 billion of loans received from Freddie Mac (NYSE: FRE). U.S. District Judge Adalberto Jordan ruled in Bank of America's favor, citing his concern that Colonial "is on the brink of collapse."

Continue reading Colonial BancGroup to be acquired by BB&T Corp.

Colonial BancGroup to be acquired by BB&T Corp. originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 14 Aug 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Analyst upgrades:

• Keefe Bruyette upgraded shares of Colonial Bancgroup (NYSE: CNB) to Outperform from Market Perform on valuation following the recent weakness and believes the company will be eligible to receive TARP funds. Morgan Stanley believes the company's valuation adequately reflects risk to the loan portfolio; the firm raised shares to Equal Weight from Underweight.
• Merrill upgraded Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) and ASML Holding (NASDAQ: ASML) to Buy from Underperform and believes their valuation reflects the worst-case for bad news.
• Oppenheimer upgraded Trimble Navigation to Outperform from Perform on valuation as they believe the company's long-term growth story is intact.
• Celestica (NYSE: CLS) was upgraded to Sector Outperformer from Sector Performer at CIBC.
• KeyCorp (NYSE: KEY) was added to Goldman's Conviction Buy List.
• Wachovia raised EastGroup Properties (NYSE: EGP) to Outperform from Market Perform.

• UBS cut Barclays (NYSE: BCS) to Neutral from Buy as they believe capital raises could negatively impact earnings and that the dividend is likely to be cut.
• JP Morgan downgraded Discovery Holdings (NASDAQ: DISCA) to Underweight from Neutral based on valuation and the deteriorating economic outlook.
• Friedman Billings downgraded shares of Janus Capital (NYSE: JNS) to Underperform from Market Perform and lowered its target to $7 from $23 as they see further risk to the downside following the company's weaker-than-expected results.
• LKQ Corp (NASDAQ: LKQX) was cut to Sector Perform from Outperform at RBC Capital.
• Affymetrix (NASDAQ: AFFX) was lowered to Sell from Hold at Deutsche Bank.
• RightNow Tech (NASDAQ: RNOW) was downgraded at Baird to Neutral from Outperform.

Continue reading Analyst calls: CNB, ERIC, ASML, TRMB, BCS, DISCA, JNS, RGEN, GPS and NTY

Analyst calls: CNB, ERIC, ASML, TRMB, BCS, DISCA, JNS, RGEN, GPS and NTY originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 24 Oct 2008 10:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.