An analyst downgrade of Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) and a pullback in Regions Financial (NYSE: RF) shares combined with economic jitters to drag down bank exchange traded funds on Monday.
SPDR KBW Bank ETF (NYSEArca: KBE) was down nearly 1%. The fund has 6.6% in Wells Fargo and 4.3% in Regions, according to the portfolio holdings.
Dick Bove at Rochdale Securities downgraded Wells Fargo to sell on Monday. He cited weakening economic factors, new liquidity rules, margin pressures and relative valuation, according to Reuters.
Also Monday, Regions shares pared an earlier loss but were still off about 3%. The stock has been battered so far in June after dropping below its 200-day moving average.
Bank stocks still face many questions and issues, Deutsche Bank analysts said in a recent report. One concern is that with interest rates dropping sharply, bank net interest margins could be at risk.
“Macro trends have weakened of late. Are banks seeing this in their customer base and if so where? How meaningful will this be to both revenue and credit projections?” the Deutsche Bank analysts wrote.
SPDR KBW Bank ETF
