In the wake of the
Goldman Sachs
(
GS
) bombshell, there have been a number of stock upgrades and stock
downgrades to financial companies in the last week. GS stock was
beaten down recently on news of a
civil fraud investigation of Goldman by the SEC
, and has sent shockwaves through the financial sector. Stock
upgrades include
Bank of America
(
BAC
),
Brookfield Asset Management
(
BAM
),
TD Ameritrade
(
AMTD
) and
New York Community Bancorp
(
NYB
). Stock downgrades include
Wells Fargo
(
WFC
),
UBS
(
UBS
) and
Credit Suisse
(
CS
). Goldman Sachs itself also saw a stock downgrade.
Here's a complete breakdown of the biggest financial stocks and
bank stocks (by market capitalization) that were upgraded or
downgraded last week. All of these stock upgrades and downgrades
are current as of April 26, 2010:
Financial Stock Upgrades - Bank of America, Brookfield Asset, TD
Ameritrade
Financial stocks upgraded this week include
Bank of America
(
BAC
),
Brookfield Asset Management
(
BAM
),
TD Ameritrade
(
AMTD
),
New York Community Bancorp
(
NYB
),
Zions Bancorp
(
ZION
), and
AllianceBernstein Holding
(
AB
).
Bank of America
(
BAC
), a diversified financial services firm and one of the largest
banks in the world, was upgraded to a C grade or a "hold" in Louis
Navellier's database of stocks to buy and sell. The database is
updated weekly, and these new stock upgrades and stock downgrades
are current as of April 26. Last week the company was rated a D
overall, or "sell." BAC stock has been firming up lately and is up
over 20% year to date. Directors Frank Bramble and Charles Holliday
are the leading contenders to become Bank of America's new chairman
when BAC stock announces its new leader, probably sometime this
week.
Brookfield Asset Management
(
BAM
), was also upgraded to a C grade or a "hold" in Portfolio Grader
from a D grade or "sell" last week. BAM stock has also outperformed
the market year-to-date, with a surge of about 18% since January 1.
That's about twice the broader market. Brookfield Asset Management
has been upgraded as a result. Looking forward to BAM earnings on
May 6, Wall Street expects Brookfield Asset Management to report
earnings of 17 cents a share on the quarter and full-year earnings
of 67 cents. Last year, BAM earnings were 15 cents on sales of $2.7
billion, and last quarter Brookfield earnings were 15 cents a
share, , topping estimates of 11 cents.
TD Ameritrade
(
AMTD
) was also upgraded this week in Portfolio Grader to "hold" from a
"sell" last week.
Zions Bancorp
(
ZION
) saw a similar stock upgrade from "sell" to "hold."
New York Community Bancorp
(
NYB
) was upgraded to a B grade or "Buy" from "Hold," and
AllianceBernstein Holding
(
AB
) saw the same stock upgrade.
Top 7 Bank Upgrades - ARE, AB, BAC, BAM, NYB, AMTD, ZION
Here are the complete list of financial stock upgrades this
week. Remember that Portfolio Grader uses a simple letter-based
system for stock upgrades and downgrades, where A is "strong buy"
and F is "strong sell."
Symbol
Company Name
Financial Sector
Market Cap (
B
)
Grade This Week
Grade Last Week
ARE Alexandria Real Estate Equities Real Estate Investment Trusts
$3.3 C - Hold D - Sell AB AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. Capital
Markets $3.4 B - Buy C - Hold BAC Bank of America Corp. Diversified
Financial Services $184.9 C - Hold D - Sell BAM Brookfield Asset
Management Real Estate Management & Dev. $14.9 C - Hold D -
Sell NYB New York Community Bancorp Thrifts & Mortgage Finance
$7.2 B - Buy C - Hold AMTD TD Ameritrade Holding Corp. Capital
Markets $12.0 C - Hold D - Sell ZION Zions Bancorp Commercial Banks
$4.8 C - Hold D - Sell Financial Stock Downgrades - Wells Fargo,
UBS, Goldman Sachs
Financial stocks downgraded this week include
Credit Suisse
(
CS
),
Goldman Sachs
(
GS
),
UBS
(
UBS
), and
Wells Fargo
(
WFC
).
Credit Suisse
(
CS
) was downgraded from a C grade or "hold" to a D grade or "sell" in
Louis Navellier's database of stocks to buy and sell. On April 22,
Credit Suisse reported earnings that were fairly impressive,
including rising profits on a wealthier banking clientele. however,
revenue failed to keep pace with top U.S. rivals so the stock was
downgraded in Navellier's latest report on April 26.
Goldman Sachs
(
GS
) was also downgraded from a C grade or "hold" to a D grade or
"sell" in Portfolio Grader. GS stock troubles have been widely
publicized lately, and the stock continues to slip.
Wells Fargo
(
WFC
) was also downgraded from a C grade or "hold" to a D grade or
"sell" in Portfolio Grader on April 26, and
UBS
(
UBS
) was downgraded from a D grade or "sell" last week to the worst
grade - an F, or "strong sell."
Top 10 Bank Downgrades - AMP, CS, GS, HCBK, MTU, NTRS, TROW, UBS,
WFC, WBK
Here are the complete list of financial stock downgrades this
week. Remember that Portfolio Grader uses a simple letter-based
system for stock upgrades and downgrades, where A is "strong buy"
and F is "strong sell."
Symbol
Company Name
Financial Sector
Market Cap (
B
)
Grade This Week
Grade Last Week
AMP Ameriprise Financial Inc. Capital Markets $12.5 C - Hold B -
Buy CS Credit Suisse Group Capital Markets $56.2 D - Sell C - Hold
GS Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Capital Markets $81.1 D - Sell C - Hold
HCBK Hudson City Bancorp Inc. Thrifts & Mortgage Finance $7.2 D
- Sell C - Hold MTU Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Commercial Banks
$76.3 F - Strong Sell D - Sell NTRS Northern Trust Corp. Capital
Markets $13.6 F - Strong Sell D - Sell TROW T. Rowe Price Group
Inc. Capital Markets $15.2 D - Sell C - Hold UBS UBS AG Capital
Markets $56.7 F - Strong Sell D - Sell WFC Wells Fargo & Co.
Commercial Banks $174.3 D - Sell C - Hold WBK Westpac Banking Corp.
Commercial Banks $74.9 C - Hold B - Buy
About Portfolio Grader: Every Sunday, renowned growth stock
adviser Louis Navellier runs a fundamental analysis on the top
5,000 Wall Street companies. Armed with this research, Navellier
offers a rating for each company reflected as a simple letter
grade, with A being "strong buy" and F being "strong sell."
Portfolio Grader's stock data is free and open to
the public, and can be accessed online here
.
Tell
us what you think here.
More Portfolio Grader stock analysis:
4/19 small cap stock upgrades:
ALTR, HCBK, GOLD, WAT, PRE, MXIM (click for
complete list of stocks to buy)
4/19 large cap stock upgrades:
BA, BP, CS (click for complete list of stocks to
buy)
4/19 large cap stock downgrades:
GOOG, LMT, SNE (click for complete list of stocks
to sell)
4/12 large cap stock upgrades:
COST, LLY, RDS, WMT (click for complete list of
stocks to buy)
4/12 large cap stock downgrades:
BAC, BA, PC, TM (click for complete list of stocks
to sell)
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