(
Updated with stock price moves
.)
NEW YORK (
) --
Goldman Sachs
(GS) - Get Report
was among the losers of the financial sector Tuesday after bank analyst Meredith Whitney downgraded shares only three months after recommending the stock as a buy.
was losing $4.23, or 2.2%, to $185.92 after Whitney cut her rating on the stock to neutral from buy, days before the bank was set to report its
on Thursday. Goldman had been Whitney's only buy rating.
Among other ratings changes, Deutsche Bank initiated coverage of
Citigroup
(C) - Get Report
shares with a buy rating and a price target of $5.50. The firm said that Citigroup's shares are attractively valued, as the bank seems well-positioned compared to its peers for both a fast economic recovery or another dip lower.
While the government's substantial investment in the company is an overhang for Citigroup's stock, Deutsche Bank said it expects the 34% stake to be reduced soon. Shares of the Citigroup were lately higher by seven cents, or 1.5%, to $4.84.
Elsewhere, Credit Suisse downgraded
Ameriprise Financial
(AMP) - Get Report
and
MetLife
(MET) - Get Report
to neutral from outperform, with the former offering limited upside to investors and the latter also a valuation call.
Ameriprise shares were falling $1.20, or 3.3%, to $35.71. MetLife was losing $1.42, or 3.7%, to $36.67. Other insurers were also weak with
Hartford Financial
(HIG) - Get Report
lower by 7.1%,
Conseco
(CNO) - Get Report
down 3.3% and
American Financial Group
(AFG) - Get Report
off 0.7%.
Away from analyst calls,
Bank of America
(BAC) - Get Report
was in the news after the
Securities and Exchange Commission
said it has entered into an agreement with the bank over the disclosure of information in the case over bonuses paid to
Merrill Lynch
executives, with Bank of America set to waive attorney-client privileges.
The move comes after BofA's key decision maker, CEO
, announced his intention to leave the bank at the end of December. In August, the SEC and BofA reached a $33 million settlement to resolve a charge that BofA made "materially false and misleading" statements regarding the options to shareholders, although U.S. District Court Judge Jed Rakoff refused to grant his approval.
is also in talks with New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo to provide documents about the legal advice it received on the deal,
Bloomberg
reported, citing a person familiar with the matter.
BofA shares were lately down 28 cents, or 1.6%, to $17.75. Among other bank stocks,
Morgan Stanley
(MS) - Get Report
slid 2.3% to $31.03,
JPMorgan Chase
(JPM) - Get Report
was losing 1.9% to $45.21 and
Wells Fargo
(WFC) - Get Report
fell 1.7% to $29.76.
(CIT) - Get Report
shares sold off after bondholders have given a tepid response to a debt exchange offer aimed at repairing the struggling commercial lender's balance sheet, according to a
Reuters
report. CIT is now more likely to try a prepackaged bankruptcy, the report said, citing two people familiar with the matter.
The reports came just as
said early Tuesday that Chairman and CEO Jeffrey Peek plans to leave the troubled lender at the end of the year. CIT Group dropped 15 cents, or 14.3%, to 89 cents.
Meantime,
(AIG) - Get Report
traded lower after the insurer agreed to sell its stake of almost 98% in Taiwan unit
Nan Shan Life
for about $2.15 billion to a group led by Hong Kong firm
Primus Financial
.
The Nan Shan deal, AIG's largest asset sale so far, is part of AIG's plan to divest certain assets to pay back government loans worth more than $180 billion. AIG shares were lately down 20 cents, or 0.5%, to $44.20.
-- Written by Robert Holmes in New York
.
