BB&T Announces 4Q Earnings This Morning

Jefferies & Company has published a research report on BB&T Corporation BBT after the company reported 4Q earnings this morning that beat consensus estimates. In the report, Jefferies writes "BBT reported GAAP EPS of $0.30 vs consensus of $0.26. Core EPS looked closer to $0.20 after excluding $99mm in securities gains (+$0.10 impact). Core looks even worse if you were to normalize the tax rate (7% in the quarter). Despite the headline miss, commentary on credit is directionally favorable, which could help offset the soft core, in our view." Jefferies maintains its Hold rating and $29 price target. BB&T Corporation closed yesterday at $27.08.