Astoria Financial Corporation (AF)

Here are Thursday's top research calls, including upgrades for Citrix, JPMorgan, PayPal and Wells Fargo, and a downgrade for Buffalo Wild Wings.

The most recent short interest data has been released for the 03/15/2017 settlement date, which shows a 839,083 share decrease in total short interest for Astoria Financial Corp , to 2,524,232, a decrease of 24.95% since 02/28/2017. Total short interest is just one way to look at short data; another metric that we here at Dividend Channel find particularly useful is the "days to cover" metric because it considers both the total shares short and the average daily volume of shares traded.

Investors in Astoria Financial Corp saw new options become available today, for the May 19th expiration. At Stock Options Channel, our YieldBoost formula has looked up and down the AF options chain for the new May 19th contracts and identified the following put contract of particular interest.

The merger is a stock-for-stock transaction.

'Steal' these selections from the filings of Jeffrey Gendell and M3F.

Dismantling of the merger may have more to do with an activist hedge fund's agitation than regulatory concerns. Expect the Fed to OK mid-sized bank deals in the coming months

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The combination had been under review by the central bank since October 2015, but analysts suggest the merger's failure does not mean the Fed is opposed to consolidation in banking.

New York Community Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE: NYCB) (the "Company"), the holding company for New York Community Bank and New York Commercial Bank, and Astoria Financial Corporation (NYSE: AF), the holding company for Astoria...

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio on Friday told citizens to avoid Trump Tower -- not exactly the type of advice area businesses welcome heading into the holiday season.

In recent trading, shares of Astoria Financial Corp. have crossed above the average analyst 12-month target price of $14.80, changing hands for $15.20/share.

TheStreet Quant Ratings provides fair and objective information to help you make educated investing decisions. We rate over 4,300 stocks daily and provide 5-page PDF reports for each stock. These ratings can change daily and today's changes are reflected in the email below. If you are looking to check-up on the stocks you currently own or are looking for new ideas, you can find our full database of password-protected ratings reports in our proprietary ratings screener: http://www.thestreet.com/k/qr/flat/stock-screener.html Upgrades: AF, BGC, ERS, EVR, ITRI, PSX, PX, SVBI, UNTY Downgrades: AKS, HNP, IMS, NEWM, TBBK, ULTI Initiations: GCI, NK, REPH Read on to get TheStreet Quant Ratings' detailed report:

TheStreet Quant Ratings provides fair and objective information to help you make educated investing decisions. We rate over 4,300 stocks daily and provide 5-page PDF reports for each stock. These ratings can change daily and today's changes are reflected in the email below. If you are looking to check-up on the stocks you currently own or are looking for new ideas, you can find our full database of password-protected ratings reports in our proprietary ratings screener: http://www.thestreet.com/k/qr/flat/stock-screener.html Upgrades: AMOT, ANGI, CBT, ELY, FTAI, GNBC, LOGM, NCR, SIX, SKUL, SLAB, SNY, SONS, TRK, TRN, UFS, VRTX, WES, ZNGA Downgrades: AF, BA, TER, WEX Initiations: FSV Read on to get TheStreet Quant Ratings' detailed report:

Investors in Astoria Financial Corp. saw new options become available today, for the August 19th expiration.

TheStreet Quant Ratings provides fair and objective information to help you make educated investing decisions. We rate over 4,300 stocks daily and provide 5-page PDF reports for each stock. These ratings can change daily and today's changes are reflected in the email below. If you are looking to check-up on the stocks you currently own or are looking for new ideas, you can find our full database of password-protected ratings reports in our proprietary ratings screener: http://www.thestreet.com/k/qr/flat/stock-screener.html Upgrades: AF, ANET, CCU, CROX, ENBL, GRBK, HCCI, LBTYA, PFIN, RIGP, TIME, UNAM, ZION Downgrades: ABEV, BPI, CPHD, LEE, PBIP, UG Initiations: HTGM, OPGN Read on to get TheStreet Quant Ratings' detailed report:

Small bank M&A activity is likely to pick up in the coming months. Analysts name these six banks as potential sellers, as well as three possible buyers.

The most recent short interest data has been released for the 05/13/2016 settlement date, which shows a 294,790 share increase in total short interest for Astoria Financial Corp. , to 3,109,043, an increase of 10.47% since 04/29/2016.

TheStreet Quant Ratings provides fair and objective information to help you make educated investing decisions. We rate over 4,300 stocks daily and provide 5-page PDF reports for each stock. These ratings can change daily and today's changes are reflected in the email below. If you are looking to check-up on the stocks you currently own or are looking for new ideas, you can find our full database of password-protected ratings reports in our proprietary ratings screener: http://www.thestreet.com/k/qr/flat/stock-screener.html Upgrades: BBRG, BWXT, CHUY, EIGI, ELNK, EXPE, HSON, OCLR, OKS, PEGI, SNP, ST, SYRG, THC, TLLP, TSRA Downgrades: AF, CGNX, CHEF, HCI, HCLP, MTH, NYT, RUBI Initiations: ASND Read on to get TheStreet Quant Ratings' detailed report:

GPP MMLP AF are going ex-dividend Wednesday, Wednesday, May 04, 2016

Looking at the universe of stocks we cover at Dividend Channel, on 5/4/16, Astoria Financial Corp. , New York REIT Inc , and Oritani Financial Corp will all trade ex-dividend for their respective upcoming dividends.

Shareholders of New York Community Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE: NYCB) ("New York Community") and Astoria Financial Corporation (NYSE: AF) ("Astoria Financial") today approved the proposed merger of the two companies.

Investors in Astoria Financial Corp. saw new options become available today, for the May 20th expiration.

Here are Wednesday's top research calls, including downgrades for Chipotle Mexican Grill and Morgan Stanley, an upgrade for Kellogg and new coverage on Cisco Systems.

TheStreet Quant Ratings provides fair and objective information to help you make educated investing decisions. We rate over 4,300 stocks daily and provide 5-page PDF reports for each stock. These ratings can change daily and today's changes are reflected in the email below. If you are looking to check-up on the stocks you currently own or are looking for new ideas, you can find our full database of password-protected ratings reports in our proprietary ratings screener: http://www.thestreet.com/k/qr/flat/stock-screener.html Upgrades: AF, ALLE, LH, LLL, LMCA, MXIM, NVEE, TSRI, VEEV, VLP, WIFI, WPT Downgrades: HAWK, MS Initiations: AJX, BLCM, INOV, NVTA Read on to get TheStreet Quant Ratings' detailed report:

Uncertainty about how much the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates, a driver of banking profits, have finance companies seeking alternative ways to boost profits. One answer may be M&A.

AF, DISH, FITB, HPT and ETFC were all recently downgraded by TheStreet’s Quant Ratings.

TheStreet Quant Ratings provides fair and objective information to help you make educated investing decisions. We rate over 4,300 stocks daily and provide 5-page PDF reports for each stock. These ratings can change daily and today's changes are reflected in the email below. If you are looking to check-up on the stocks you currently own or are looking for new ideas, you can find our full database of password-protected ratings reports in our proprietary ratings screener: http://www.thestreet.com/k/qr/flat/stock-screener.html Upgrades: BRKR, GCO, MOS, TOWR Downgrades: ACOR, AF, CFG, CHGG, DISH, DLHC, DVA, ECOL, ETFC, GTIM, HPT, K, NATL, NEWT, NR, OHI, OLP, PPC, RHT, SCSS, SLF, TEO, TRI, TRIP, TRP, VEEV, VG, WWE Initiations: None Read on to get TheStreet Quant Ratings' detailed report:

David Ellison of Hennessy recommends four beaten-down bank stocks that look promising now.