Tuesday's Financial Winners & Losers

A bounty of earnings data dominated news in the financial sector Tuesday, and one of the biggest winners from a strong quarterly showing was Jefferies Group(JEF Quote).

The New York investment bank posted second-quarter earnings of $67.8 million, or 45 cents a share, up from $45.6 million, or 32 cents a share, in the prior-year period. Revenue was $465.5 million, up from $327.3 million last year. The stock was $1.28, or 4.5%, higher at $29.99.

Other earnings climbers included KeyCorp(KEY Quote), up $1.77, or 5%, at $36.87 after beating estimates by 14 cents a share. KeyCorp is a component of the KBW Bank Sector Index, which was up 0.4%, at 115.46. Virginia Commerce Bancorp(VCBI Quote) was also up 91 cents, or 5.6%, at $17.17 after beating estimates by 2 cents a share, and First Cash Financial Services(FCFS Quote) was up 46 cents, or 2.1%, at $22.75 after beating estimates by a penny a share.

Also climbing was Bancolombia(CIB Quote), which priced its public offering of 8.4 million American Depositary Shares at $33.25 each, or $279.7 million. The Colombia-based bank was up $2.67, or 7.9%, at $36.55.

On the other hand, Assurant(AIZ Quote) fell 10% after it placed five top execs, including its CEO and financial chief, on administrative leave. The move came after regulators gave notice they plan to file civil suits against the men in an investigation of certain loss mitigation insurance products. Adding to the hurt, KeyBanc downgraded its rating to hold from buy. Shares were down $5.91 at $52.89.

Novastar Financial(NFI Quote) lost ground on late-Monday news that it received up to $150 million in financing commitments from Jeffries and MassMutual. Shares were 25 cents, or 3.3%, lower at $7.26. Macatawa Bank(MCBC Quote) fell after reporting a drop in second-quarter earnings to $4.59 million, or 26 cents a share, from $5.76 million, or 33 cents a share, last year. Shares fell 12.8% to $12.84.

Several names reported earnings growth, but nonetheless were trading lower: Regions Financial(RF Quote), down 1.6% at $33.66; Sallie Mae(SLM Quote), down 2.3% at $51.71; and Merrill Lynch(MER Quote), down 1.2% at $86.32.