Keefe Bruyette and Woods News

The cut was not expected by some analysts after the bank moved earlier this month to address the Irish banking issues, but they now expect the other top ratings agency to act accordingly.

Shares of Commerce Bancshares traded up 0.36% during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $39.20. Commerce Bancshares has a 52 week low of $33.06 and a 52 week high of $44.00. The company has a market cap of $3.467 billion and a P/E ratio of 13.47. Commerce Bancshares last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 12nd.

's outlook at its investor day Wednesday was bearish and may lead to "modest downward pressure on consensus EPS estimates over time," according to a Keefe Bruyette & Woods report published Thursday.

Sierra Bancorp opened at 8.59 on Thursday. Sierra Bancorp has a 1-year low of $8.42 and a 1-year high of $11.73. The company has a market cap of $121.1 million and a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.07. Stay on top of analysts' coverage with American Banking & Market News' daily email newsletter that provides a concise list of analysts' upgrades, ... (more)

In a review quarterly earnings, Keefe, Bruyette and Woods found the property/casualty space performed very well in the first quarter of 2012.

Shares of GFI Group traded up 6.41% during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $2.6176. GFI Group has a one year low of $3.08 and a one year high of $5.13. The company's market cap is $314.0 million.

During the earnings call, CEO Xavier Rolet highlighted that the company delivered a 169% uplift in pretax profit; annual operating profit reached A 358.5 million, compared to A 283.0 million recorded in the year-ago period.

Shares of Heritage Financial opened at 11.66 on Thursday. Heritage Financial has a one year low of $10.01 and a one year high of $12.50. The company has a market cap of $95.0 million and a P/E ratio of 26.62. Stay on top of analysts' coverage with American Banking & Market News' daily email newsletter that provides a concise list of analysts' ... (more)

Several other analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of MarketAxess Holdings to an "outperform" rating in a research note to investors on Thursday, April 12nd.

It only took Jay S. Sidhu, chairman and CEO of Customers Bancorp, two days to realize that he wasn't going to get the price he wanted from institutional investors for the bank's proposed initial public stock offering.

Separately, analysts at UBS AG downgraded shares of MUENCHENER RE GP UNSP/ADR from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note to investors on Monday, March 19th.

MN has been the subject of a number of other recent research reports. Analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, Inc downgraded shares of Manning & Napier from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note to investors on Friday.

Shares of City Holding Company opened at 33.44 on Thursday. City Holding Company has a 52 week low of $25.64 and a 52 week high of $37.50. The company has a market cap of $493.1 million and a P/E ratio of 12.52. Separately, analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, Inc upgraded shares of City Holding Company from a "market perform" rating to an ... (more)

Separately, analysts at Zacks upgraded shares of Bridge Capital Holdi from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research note to investors on Tuesday, February 7th.

The firm currently has a "buy" rating on the stock. Shares of General Growth Properties opened at 17.92 on Wednesday.