Regional Banks

The Board of Directors of Bank of South Carolina Corporation, (NASDAQ: BKSC) the parent company for The Bank of South Carolina, declared a $.10 per share quarterly dividend payable July 29, 2011 to shareholders of record as of July 8, 2011. Hugh C. Lane, Jr., President and Chief Executive Officer...

Morgan Stanley is out with its report today on Regions Financial (NYSE: RF), maintaining Underweight. In a note to clients, Morgan Stanley writes, "We are Underweight RF in the context of an Attractive view for the large cap bank sector. We look for the bank to come out of the credit cycle later...

Evercore Partners is out with a research report on Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE: RF), as the Morgan Keegan is currently up for sale. It has a $8 price target on shares and a Equal-Weight rating. In a note to clients, Evercore writes, "MK contributed ~$1.3b or 20% Regions' 2010 revenues, and...

According to Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, Cullen/Frost Bankers (NYSE: CFR) coverage is assumed with Market Perform rating. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods said that it is assuming coverage of Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. with a Market Perform rating and $55 12-month price target. “We believe the company...

Zacks has downgraded First Business Financial Services (NASDAQ: FBIZ) from Outperform to Neutral and maintains its $14.25 price target.

Hampton Roads based TowneBank (Nasdaq: TOWN) announced today that its Board of Directors on June 22, 2011 declared a cash dividend of $12.50 per share on its Series B Fixed-Rate Non-Cumulative Perpetual Preferred Stock. This preferred dividend is payable on August 15, 2011, to the shareholder of...

Hampton Roads Bankshares (Nasdaq: HMPR) today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement with The Page Valley Bank of Luray, Virginia, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Blue Ridge Bankshares, Inc. (Pink Sheets:BRBS), whereby Page Valley will purchase all deposits and selected assets...

International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, recently announced it will loan USD 20 million to Khan Bank LLC of Mongolia to help strengthen its capital position and increase lending to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The seven-year subordinated loan will...

Regions Financial (NYSE: RF) also announced that with these regulatory matters settled, and as part of its ongoing capital planning process, it has retained Goldman, Sachs & Co. to explore potential strategic alternatives for Morgan Keegan as Regions evaluates how best to manage its capital to...

Regions Financial Corp. (NYSE: RF) announced today that its brokerage and investment banking subsidiary, Morgan Keegan & Company, Inc., and its asset management subsidiary, Morgan Asset Management, have agreed to a settlement of previously disclosed regulatory matters with the Securities and...

Here are today's Put/Call Ratio leaders… 1. Regions Financial Corp. (NYSE: RF) 3,534 puts, 40 calls 2. RF Micro Devices Inc. (NASDAQ: RFMD) 8,775 puts, 306 calls 3. Ryland Group (NYSE: RYL) 3,080 puts, 143 calls 4. Hyperdynamics Corp. (NYSE: HDY) 5,035 puts, 251 calls 5. Xilinx Inc. (NASDAQ: XLNX...

Tower Bancorp Inc (NASDAQ: TOBC) shares rose 2.20% to create a new 52-week high of $27.39. Susquehanna Bancshares Inc (NASDAQ: SUSQ) agreed to buy Tower Bancorp for $343 million in cash and stock, O'Reilly Automotive Inc (NASDAQ: ORLY) shares gained 0.50% to create a new 52-week high of $64.07....

KBW is out with its report today on BancFirst (NASDAQ: BANF) and Southwest Bancorp (NASDAQ: OKSB), assuming coverage on BANF and OKSB at Market Perform. In a note to clients, KBW writes, "We are assuming coverage of two Oklahoma-based holding companies, BancFirst Corporation and Southwest Bancorp...

Compass Point reiterates its Sell rating on Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE: RF). In a research report published today, Compass Point states, ""We estimate that RF becomes an attractive take-out target at the $3.00 level. Given we do not believe RF is in the need to sell themselves, we view...

Analysts at HSBC downgraded Barclays PLC (NYSE: BCS) from “overweight” to “neutral.” Barclays' shares closed at $16.92 yesterday. Barclays's trailing-twelve-month ROA is 0.32%. Analysts at FBR Capital downgraded UDR Inc (NYSE: UDR) from “market perform” to “underperform.” UDR's shares closed at $...