Dividend and IPO Return: Financial Weekly Recap
NEW YORK (
) -- Financial stocks slipped this week even as the capital markets went into overdrive from the IPO of
General Motors
(GM) - Get Report
on Thursday.
The
Financial Select Sector SPDR
(XLF) - Get Report
, an exchange-traded fund which tracks the sector, fell 1.3% this week to $14.81.
Initial public offerings were center stage this week.
GM stock debuted Thursday on the
New York Stock Exchange
, opening at $35 a share - $2 higher than the IPO price, which was already at the high-end of the given range. GM shares closed Friday virtually flat from its opening price of $34.19.
GM's $20 billion IPO was the largest in U.S. history, surpassing that of
Visa's
(V) - Get Report
IPO in 2008. According to
Dealogic
, GM's IPO is on track to become the fifth largest globally if all the overallotment was sold.
General Motors, CEO Dan Akerson, right, and other dignitaries celebrate after ringing the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Thursday, Nov. 18, 2010. |
Demand was high for the newly traded GM shares. GM was one of the top traded stock by retail investors. Online brokers, such as
E*Trade Financial
(ETFC) - Get Report
, Fidelity and
TD Ameritrade
(AMTD) - Get Report
are likely to benefit from the GM trading volume.
However two other IPOs didn't get the same investor enthusiasm. Brokerage firm
LPL Investments
(LPLA) - Get Report
also went public on Thursday. Meanwhile casino operator Harrah's Entertainment canceled its IPO, according to an announcement Friday.
The
Federal Reserve
announced that it will require banks to provide detailed stress tests and capital plans before they move ahead with dividend restoration, something that investors have eagerly awaiting since the financial crisis began in 2008.
Most of the 19 large bank holding companies appear set to
gain approval to begin returning capital to investors by increasing their dividends or buying back shares . First they will need to repay any assets they received through the U.S. Treasury Department's Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP).
The group of 19 holding companies that are no longer participating in TARP and will overcome the initial hurdle include some of the largest names, such as
Bank of America
(BAC) - Get Report
,
JPMorgan Chase
(JPM) - Get Report
and
Citigroup
(C) - Get Report
.
History in the making at
KeyCorp
(KEY) - Get Report
. The Cleveland regional bank's longtime CEO Henry Meyer announced his retirement next year.
Beth Mooney, Key's Vice Chair and head of Community Banking will
succeed Meyer when he retires in May. Mooney will be the first woman to run a major U.S. bank.
Separately,
Regions Financial (RF) - Get Report had a shakeup in its risk management unit
this week.
Regions said late Monday that Chief Risk Officer Bill Wells has resigned. It also announced two other executive departures: Michael Willoughby, Regions' director of credit risk, has retired and Tom Neely, head of problem asset management, has left the company, the bank said.
Regions said the departures were not a result "any determination with regard to additional problem loan migration, loan loss reserves or charge-offs," according to a statement.
Later this week, Fitch Ratings also downgraded the regional bank to nearly junk status of BBB-.
The rift between
Wells Fargo
(WFC) - Get Report
and
Citigroup
(C) - Get Report
over the former's outbid for
Wachovia
in 2008 finally concluded.
Wells agreed Friday to pay Citi $100 million to settle the case.
-- Written by Laurie Kulikowski in New York.
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Laurie Kulikowski
.
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Disclosure: TheStreet's editorial policy prohibits staff editors, reporters and analysts from holding positions in any individual stocks.
