Financial Winners and Losers: Citigroup

(Adds S&P downgrade of E*Trade, closing stock prices throughout)

Financial stocks were mixed Friday, with Citigroup (C Quote) one of a handful of winners after an analyst called the stock an "excellent buy" for patient investors.

Rochdale Securities analyst Dick Bove initiated coverage of Citigroup with a buy rating and a price target of $4, but warned that new management will face numerous challenges. Citi must return to its core operating strengths, improve its balance sheet so that it can borrow without government aid, and, "in the short run most importantly," it must cleanse the bank of its bad loans, Bove wrote in his research note.

"[Citigroup] is being returned to its core," Bove wrote. "It will be given time to succeed in this effort. This suggests that the outlook for the stock is very positive." ...