Citi Discusses BB&T's Dividend Raise (BBT)

Citi Investment Research is out with a research on BB&T BBT after it announced it would raise its dividend on Friday. In a note to clients, Citi writes, "The announcement was fairly in-line with our expectations; we did not anticipate BBT would increase the dividend substantially given their current payout ratio and would be weighing any share repurchase against potential M&A opportunities. Although earnings were compressed and BBT reduced their dividend as the cycle unfolded, the company was able to keep an elevated dividend vs. other regional peers. The bank has one of the highest regional bank dividend yields in our coverage at 2.2% currently." Shares of BBT gained 14 cents on Friday to close at $27.01, a gain of just over 0.5%.