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MetLife (MET) Buying American International Group (AIG) Unit For $15.5 Billion
Monday, March 8, 2010 - 8:12am | 108MetLife, Inc. (NYSE: MET) announced that it had signed an agreement with American International Group (NYSE: AIG) to buy AIG's American Life Insurance Co. for around $15.5 billion. American International Group will receive $6.8 billion in cash and approximately $8.7 billion in MetLife stock....
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Corporate Charity Gets Hit By Economic Woes (KO, MET, XOM, WMT, GE, WFC, CAT, AA)
Saturday, March 6, 2010 - 10:23pm | 208According to a recent report released by Reuters, Only four out of the top ten philanthropic companies said that the dollar value of their donations increased in 2009. The dollar value remained same for two companies while it dropped for the remaining four corporations. Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO),...
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American International Group, Inc. (AIG) To Sell Remaining 14% Stake In Transatlantic (TRH)
Friday, March 5, 2010 - 3:36pm | 152The Wall Street Journal reports that American International Group, Inc. (NYSE: AIG) is planning on selling its remaining 14% stake in casualty reinsurer Transatlantic Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: TRH). AIG has been divesting its stake in assets to repay the government’s 2008 bailout. The company recently...
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The Rising Tide Lifting a Lot of Boats Might be Justified
Friday, March 5, 2010 - 12:13pm | 998Earlier this week we suggested focusing on a few stocks as potential long, short or "contrarian" ideas based on our rankings in the Ascendere Long/Short Model Portfolio. It has not even been a full week since but the stocks have already moved significantly. As of the March 4 close, "high quality...
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M&A Activity Drives Stocks Up On Wall Street
Monday, March 1, 2010 - 4:32pm | 175Sudden M&A activities moved U.S. stocks higher on Monday morning, helped along by stronger-than-expected consumer spending and signs that a Greek bail-out may be imminent. American International Group Inc. (NYSE: AIG) rose 9.3% to $27.07 after Prudential (NYSE: PRU) agreed to buy its Asian...
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Canadian Banks Still Pay Juicy Dividends (AXP, JPM, TD, RY)
Monday, March 1, 2010 - 12:49pm | 1110Last Wednesday the markets were comforted by Fed chairman Ben Bernanke’s comments that the US economy is in a nascent recovery that requires interest rates to be kept low. Banks are breathing a sigh of relief that the recent rise in the discount rate will not lead to significant rate increase....
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S&P Keeps Hold on (AEG )Aegon, Despite Higher Earnings
Friday, February 26, 2010 - 10:48am | 273S&P is keeping their hold rating on Aegon, (NYSE: AEG) despite the fact that Aegon reported almost double the 2009 earnings that the consensus had forecasted. Aegon, one of the world's biggest Insurers, reported a net profit of EUR393 million in the fourth quarter of 2009, compared with a EUR1...
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Company News for February 26, 2010 - Corporate Summary
Friday, February 26, 2010 - 10:27am | 196• AIG (NYSE:AIG) posted an $8.9 billion loss and said it could knock on the US government’s door to help meet its obligations • CKE Restaurants (NYSE:CKR) will be purchased by Thomas H Lee Partners for $928 million, or $11.05 per share • Interpublic Group (NYSE:IPG) reported inline sales and...
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PRU Upgaded To Overweight
Wednesday, February 17, 2010 - 10:18am | 41Analysts at Morgan Stanley upgrade Prudential (NYSE: PRU) from "equal weight" to "overweight." PRU’s share rose 3.72% to close at $49.93 yesterday. More Analyst Ratings here
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Morgan Stanley Upgrades UNM To Overweight
Wednesday, February 17, 2010 - 10:15am | 43Analysts at Morgan Stanley upgrade Unum Group (NYSE: UNM) from "underweight" to "equal weight." UNM’s share price rose 2.87% to close at $20.08 yesterday. More Analyst Ratings here
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S&P Downgrades Insurance Firm Phoenix Cos.
Friday, February 12, 2010 - 3:30pm | 97Phoenix Cos. (NYSE: PNX), one of the more embattled companies in the insurance sector, saw its credit rating downgraded by Standard & Poor's to "CCC+" from "B-" after the company reported a fourth-quarter a net loss of $106.4 million and an operating loss of $34.2 million. S&P also lowered...
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Fitch Raises Ratings On Unum Group
Friday, February 12, 2010 - 3:02pm | 89Fitch Ratings upgraded the debt rating of insurance firm Unum Group (NYSE: UNM) to ''BBB'' from ''BBB-'' putting the company within one notch of investment grade. Fitch also raised Unum's issuer default rating to ''BBB+'' from ''BBB.'' Fitch placed a ''stable'' outlook on Unum. The ratings agency...
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Delphi Financial Group, Inc. (DFG) Reports Fourth-Quarter Results
Friday, February 12, 2010 - 1:42pm | 158Analyst Randy Binner at FBR Capital Markets (NASDAQ: FBCM) has released an update on Delphi Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE: DFG). The company has reported results for the fourth-quarter. Delphi reported operating EPS of $0.86 for the fourth-quarter, which came in slightly below FBR’s estimate of $0....
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Benzinga’s Top Downgrades (MFC, RMKR, UAUA, OSK)
Friday, February 12, 2010 - 9:48am | 193Manulife Financial Corporation (USA) (NYSE: MFC) declined 1.48% to $17.92 in the pre-market session after Manulife Financial was downgraded by RBC Capital Markets to Sector Perform from Outperform. The 52-week trading range for MFC is $6.94 - $24.97. Manulife Financial closed at $18.19 in the...
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Prudential Financial, Inc.’s (PRU) Fourth-Quarter Review
Thursday, February 11, 2010 - 5:54pm | 148Analysts at Macquarie (ADR) (OTC: MQBKY) have released an update on Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE: PRU). The company has reported results for the fourth-quarter. The company reported operating EPS of $1.07 for the quarter, which beat analysts’ estimate of $1.06, but was below the consensus of $...