Tuesday's Financial Winners & Losers

Piper Jaffray(PJC Quote) fell after the Minneapolis-based asset manager was downgraded by Wachovia to market perform from outperform. Shares dropped $3.91, or 5.93%, to $62.05.

Investors Bancorp(ISBC Quote) advanced after the Short Hills, N.J.-based bank said its board approved a 5.3 million-share stock buyback.

The bank, which went public nearly a year ago, says it will repurchase up to 10% of its stock. Shares were trading up 14 cents, or nearly 1%, to $15.05.

North Fork Bancorp(NFB Quote) declared its regular quarterly dividend of 25 cents a share. The dividend will be payable Nov. 15 to shareholders of record on Oct. 27. North Fork is being acquired by Capital One(COF Quote). North Fork was trading up five cents to $28.39.

NovaStar Financial(NFI Quote) gained after Friedman Billings Ramsey initiated coverage of the Kansas City-based mortgage lender with an outperform rating. Shares gained 63 cents, or 2.18%, to $29.50.

Alexandria Real Estate Equities(ARE Quote) lost ground after the California-based REIT said it had agreed to sell 2.5 million shares of stock in a follow-on public offering.

Gross proceeds from the offering will be about $240 million. The company said it intends to use proceeds from the offering to reduce the outstanding balance on its unsecured line of credit. Shares were trading down $2.17, or 2.24%, to $94.82.