Top 10 Bank Companies To Buy For 2014

If you sort the stocks on the S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC  ) by price-to-earnings ratio, one thing becomes immediately obvious: Financial companies are some of the cheapest stocks in the market right now. Of the 20 stocks with the lowest P/E multiples, five are insurance companies and three are banks.

While I'm not as well versed in insurance stocks, there are a couple of important things to note here with respect to banks. These companies appear cheap for a reason. Many, like S&P component SunTrust Banks (NYSE: STI  ) , are still atoning for sins committed in the lead up to the financial crisis. Their costs are high because of heightened mortgage-servicing standards and loan-loss provisions while their revenues are down thanks to the compression of interest rates.

The more traditional way to assess this is through the price-to-tangible-book-value ratio -- which is analogous to the P/E ratio, but the denominator contains a bank's tangible book value and not its earnings. The story is the same if viewed from this perspective. Since 1994, the average P/TBV of the nation's four largest banks by assets comes in at 2.69. Right now, it's 1.17, or less than half of its recent historical average.

Hot Bank Companies To Watch In Right Now: Oberbank AG (OBV)

Oberbank AG is an Austria-based commercial regional bank. The Company provides products and services for individual customers, as well as for corporate customers. It divides its operations into four segments: Corporate Customers, Private Customers, Financial Markets and Others. The Company offers credit and debit cards, current and saving accounts, investment services, electronic banking services, as well as financing, leasing, investment and real estate services. It operates through numerous offices in Austria, Germany, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia. The Company�� major shareholder is CABO Beteiligungsgesellschafts mbH with a stake of 32.54%. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Tom Aspray]

  The US market has not been immune to China shocks in 2013 as a plunge in the Japanese market on May 24 was a reaction in part to more weak manufacturing data out of China. But just a month later, the correction in the US market was over as it was no longer overbought (see chart). The weekly on-balance volume (OBV) on the bottom of the chart has continued to make higher highs, line a, since early in 2012.

• [By Tom Aspray]

  The daily on-balance volume (OBV) formed a bullish divergence, line c, at the lows. The bottom was confirmed by the move through the downtrend, line b, and the July high. The next level to watch is the 38.2% Fibonacci retracement resistance at $81.54 and then the 50% at $82.54. This decline in yields should be an opportunity to shorten the maturity of your bond holdings and reduce your exposure to the long end of the bond market.

Top 10 Bank Companies To Buy For 2014: Credicorp Ltd (BAP)

Credicorp Ltd. (Credicorp), incorporated on October 20, 1995, is a financial services holding company. The Company is organized in four operating segments: Banking, Insurance, Pension funds and Brokerage and other. Credicorp is engaged principally in banking (including commercial and investment banking), insurance (including commercial property, transportation and marine hull, automobile, life, health and underwriting insurance), pension funds (including private pension fund management services), and brokerage and other (including the structuring and placement of primary market securities issues and the execution and trading of secondary market transactions.). Its four operating subsidiaries are : Banco de Credito del Peru (BCP), Atlantic Security Bank (ASB), El Pacifico-Peruano Suiza Compania de Seguros y Reaseguros, and Prima AFP.

Banking segment

Banking includes handling loans, credit facilities, deposits and current accounts, and providing investment banking services, including corporate finance, both for corporate and institutional customers. Banking also includes handling deposits consumer loans and credit cards facilities for individual customers. The Company conducts banking activities in Bolivia through BCP Bolivia, a service commercial bank. Its banking business is organized into wholesale banking activities, which are carried out by BCP�� wholesale banking group (which includes the corporate banking operations of ASB), and retail banking activities, which are carried out by BCP's retail banking group. Its deposit-taking operations are managed by BCP'�� retail banking group and and ASB's private banking group.

Insurance

Credicorp�� insurance segment includes commercial property, transportation and marine hull, automobile, life, health and pension fund underwriting insurance. Private hospital services are also included under this operating segment. The Company conducts its insurance operations Grupo Pacifico and its subsidiaries, whic! h provide a broad range of insurance products. Grupo Pacifico property and casualty insurance through Pacifico Seguros, life and pension insurance through Pacifico Vida, and health care insurance through Pacificosalud EPS.. Grupo Pacifico sells its products both directly and through independent brokers and agents.

Pension funds

Credicorp�� pension funds segment provides private pension fund management services to customers. Credicorp conducts all of its pension fund activities through its private pension fund administrator Prima AFP. Credicorp through its subsidiary Prima AFP, focuses mainly on obtaining new affiliates, by providing permanent information and diverse channels of communication.

Brokerage and other

The Company�� brokerage and others segment includes the structuring and placement of primary market issues and the execution and trading of secondary market transactions. This segment also includes offers of local securitization structuring to corporate entities, management of mutual funds and other services. The majority of its trading and brokerage activities are conducted through BCP, ASB and Credicorp Securities Inc. Its asset management business is carried out by BCP in Peru, through its subsidiary Credifondo, and by ASB. It offers Brokerage and other services through BCP and ASB. BCP offers clients a range of such products and services, such as brokerage, mutual funds and custody services through its branch network in Lima and throughout the rest of Peru. In addition, ASB also offers brokerage and other services.

The Company competes with BCP, BBVA Banco Continental, Scotiabank Peru, Interbank and Banco Interamericano de Finanzas.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Chuck Carnevale]

  Credit Corp. Limited (BAP)

  My first featured aggressive financial candidate is Credit Corp. Limited, a Bermuda-based financial services holding company, and the largest financial holding company in Peru. Although the company is headquartered in Bermuda and operates in Peru, its long-term track record is exceptional. Once again, I will let the F.A.S.T. Graphs��speak for themselves, other than to say in addition to a great track record, this ADR is expected to offer above-average growth and appears to be very attractively valued at today�� levels.

Top 10 Bank Companies To Buy For 2014: Citigroup Inc.(C)

Citigroup, Inc., a global financial services company, provides consumers, corporations, governments, and institutions with a range of financial products and services. The company operates through two segments, Citicorp and Citi Holdings. The Citicorp segment operates as a global bank for businesses and consumers with two primary businesses, Regional Consumer Banking and Institutional Clients Group. The Regional Consumer Banking business provides traditional banking services, including retail banking, and branded cards in North America, Asia, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. The Institutional Clients Group business provides securities and banking services comprising investment banking and advisory services, lending, debt and equity sales and trading, institutional brokerage, foreign exchange, structured products, cash instruments and related derivatives, and private banking; and transaction services consisting of treasury and trade solutions, and securiti es and fund services. The Citi Holdings segment operates Brokerage and Asset Management, Local Consumer Lending, and Special Asset Pool businesses. The Brokerage and Asset Management Business, through its 49% stake in Morgan Stanley Smith Barney joint venture and Nikko Cordial Securities, offers retail brokerage and asset management services. The Local Consumer Lending business provides residential mortgage loans, retail partner card loans, personal loans, commercial real estate, and other consumer loans, as well as western European cards and retail banking services. The Special Asset Pool business is a portfolio of securities, loans, and other assets. Citigroup Inc. has approximately 200 million customer accounts and operates in approximately 160 countries. The company was founded in 1812 and is based in New York, New York.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Mark Thompson]

  2. Next big banking fine: Citigroup (C) is reported to be close to agreeing to pay $7 billion to settle a U.S. government investigation into the sale of mortgage backed securities. The deal would include billions in help for borrowers, according to the reports.

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Citigroup’s (C) CFO John Gerspach spoke at a Deutsche Bank conference today and offering some insights into where the company is heading.

  Bloomberg News

  In his comments, Gerspach said that Citi’s second-quarter trading revenue would drop by as much as 25% from a year ago, called loan demand “choppy,” and said that the banking giant’s “real goal” is to return more capital to shareholders.

  Citigroup wasn’t the only bank making comments today. JPMorgan Chase (JPM) investment banking chief Daniel Pinto said marker revenue would be flat, while Bank of America (BAC) jumped after it said it had submitted a new capital-return plan to the Fed.

  Nomura’s Bill Carcache thinks the return of excess capital by the bug banks will be “elusive:”

  We think it may take years for banks to return the excess capital they hold today and expect excess capital accretion to continue over the near term, particularly with expected payout ratios around 50-80% for the 2014 CCAR period (2Q14-1Q15). In our view, getting the green light from regulators to pay out 100% of earnings will mark an important first step on the road to getting excess capital released. Most investors with whom we��e spoken since our recent launch don�� see that happening next year. At the earliest, we think it will take at least two years before the current generation of regulators allows some excess capital to leave the system. Even then, we believe the risk is high that a significant portion will remain trapped for a prolonged period. Uncertainty over when excess capital will be released makes us reluctant to give the banks full credit for it at this time.

  Shares of Citigroup have gained 0.7% to $47.60 at 2pm today, while JPMorgan Chase has gained 1% to $55.07 and Bank of America has jumped 3% to $15.16.

• [By Eric Volkman]

  His replacement is Douglas Peterson, a long-serving executive, who is currently president of one of the firm's key units, Standard & Poor's Ratings Services. Prior to his time at the company, Peterson worked at Citigroup (NYSE: C  ) in a number of domestic and international executive positions. He rose through the ranks to eventually become COO of Citibank.

Top 10 Bank Companies To Buy For 2014: Bank Of Montreal (BMO)

Bank of Montreal, together with its subsidiaries, provides a range of retail banking, wealth management, and investment banking products and solutions in North America and internationally. It offers personal banking products and services to consumers and small businesses, including deposit and investment services, mortgages, consumer credit, small business lending, and other banking services; and commercial banking products and services to small business, medium-sized enterprise, and mid-market banking clients comprising lending, deposits, treasury management, and risk management services. The company also offers cards and payments services; investment and wealth advisory services; self-directed investing services; private banking services to high net worth and ultra-high net worth clients; investment fund solutions across a range of channels; pension plans; investment management services; and creditor insurance, and life insurance and annuity products and services. In add ition, it provides capital markets products and services, including equity and debt underwriting, corporate lending and project financing, mergers and acquisitions, restructurings and recapitalizations, balance sheet management, liquidity management, merchant banking, securitization, foreign exchange, derivatives, debt and equity research, and institutional sales and trading to corporate, institutional, and government clients. As of October 31, 2010, Bank of Montreal operated and maintained approximately 1,230 bank branches in Canada and the United States. The company was founded in 1817 and is headquartered in Toronto, Canada.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Laura Brodbeck]

  Tuesday

  Earnings Expected From: Bank of Montreal (NYSE: BMO), United Natural Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ: UNFI), OmniVision Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: OVTI), Universal Technical Institute, Inc. (NYSE: UTI) Economic Releases Expected: Chinese HSBC Services PMI, Australian GDP, Brazilian GDP, eurozone PPI, British construction PMI.

  Wednesday

• [By Will Ashworth]

  Bank of Montreal (BMO) and National Bank (NTIOF) have already delivered their numbers, and the rest are expected to come tomorrow and Friday. The major Canadian bank stocks are expected to grow earnings between 5% and 7% over last year�� fourth quarter, which is excellent.

• [By Alyssa Oursler]

  Head north of the border and you’ll come across Bank of Montreal (BMO), our final safe income pick. If you were impressed by Chevron’s century of dividend payments, consider this: BMO has been rewarding loyal shareholders since 1829. For perspective, remember that the U.S. was just over 50 years old at that time.

Top 10 Bank Companies To Buy For 2014: Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank Egypt SAE (ADIB)

Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank Egypt SAE, formerly National Bank for Development (NBD), is an Egypt-based public shareholding company engaged in the provision of retail, corporate and investment banking services through a network of 69 branches located across Egypt. The Bank�� products and services are structured into four segments: the Personal banking segment includes current and saving account, investment account, club finance, charitable accounts and sukuk, among others; the Microfinance segment includes microfinance program; the Wholesale banking segment includes corporate banking, financial institutions and trade, cash management and corporate finance, and the Treasury segment includes foreign exchange, sharia-compliant products and market analysis/updates. In January 2014, the Company sold 11,619,575 shares representing 77.46% stake in National Company for Glass and Crystal�� share capital to Abu Dhabi Islamic Financial Investments Holding. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By reports.droy]

  Soon after the U.S. settlement was announced last week, SCB said that it was interested in exiting the SME business in the UAE as part of a broader effort to solidify its strategic focus. Recently in April, Barclays, its competitor, has sold its retail banking operations in the UAE to the Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB), a deal by which the UAE bank acquired 11,000 customers.

Top 10 Bank Companies To Buy For 2014: Fifth Third Bancorp(FITB)

Fifth Third Bancorp operates as a diversified financial services holding company in the United States. The company?s Commercial Banking segment offers credit intermediation, cash management, and financial services; lending and depository products; and foreign exchange and international trade finance, derivatives and capital markets services, asset-based lending, real estate finance, public finance, commercial leasing, and syndicated finance for business, government, and professional customers. Its Branch Banking segment provides deposit and loan, and lease products to individuals and small businesses. This segment?s products include checking and savings accounts, home equity loans and lines of credit, credit cards, loans for automobile and personal financing needs, and cash management services. The company?s Consumer Lending segment engages in the mortgage and home equity lending activities, such as origination, retention, and servicing of mortgage and home equity loans ; and other indirect lending activities, which include loans to consumers through mortgage brokers and automobile dealers. Its Investment Advisors segment offers investment alternatives for individuals, companies, and not-for-profit organizations. It offers retail brokerage services to individual clients, and broker dealer services to the institutional marketplace. This segment also provides asset management services; holistic strategies to affluent clients in wealth planning, investing, insurance, and wealth protection; and advisory services for institutional clients, as well as advises the company?s proprietary family of mutual funds. As of December 31, 2011, the company operated 1,316 full-service banking centers, including 104 Bank Mart locations; and 2,425 automated teller machines in 12 states in the midwestern and southeastern regions of the United States. The company was founded in 1862 and is headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Amanda Alix]

  Other banks were involved, too
  Bank of America was by no means the only lender to possibly engage in this behavior. Last February, Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC  ) learned�that a complaint against itself and QBE Insurance had been given class action status in Florida, while two months later, Fifth Third Bank (NASDAQ: FITB  ) was sued�by homeowners alleging that Fifth Third engaged in the same type of conduct, setting up a reinsurance company through which insurance money was funneled.

• [By Amanda Alix]

  Large regional banks have been getting in on the act, too. KeyCorp (NYSE: KEY  ) , Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ: HBAN  ) , and Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ: FITB  ) all boosted their commercial loan portfolios last year between 18% and 20%.

• [By The Part-time Investor]

  The following stocks met the criteria in January of 2008 and were put into the initial portfolio:

  Abbot Labs (ABT)Advanced data processing (ADP)Associated Banc-Corp (ASBC)Bank of America (BAC)BB&T Corp. (BBT)Bemis Company (BMS)Anheuser Busch (BUD)The Chubb Corporation (CB)Clorox (CLX)Comerica Inc. (CMA)Diebold Inc. (DBD)Emerson Electronics (EMR)First Dollar Corp. (FDO)First Third BanCorp. (FITB)Gannett Co, Inc. (GCI)General Electric (GE)Hershey (HSY)Illinois Tools Works (ITW)Johnson and Johnson (JNJ)Leggett and Platt (LEG)Eli Lilly (LLY)La-Z-Boy (LZB)McDonald's (MCD)Marsh and Ilsley (MI)M&T Bancorp (MTB)PepsiCo (PEP)Pfizer (PFE)Procter & Gamble (PG)Pentair Ltd. (PNR)Regions Financial Corp. (RF)Rohm and Haas (ROH)RPM International (RPM)Sherwin Williams (SHW)Sysco Corp. (SYY)UDR Inc. (UDR)

  Historical quotes were taken from Yahoo Finance. $10,000 was put into each position, to the nearest whole share, so a total of $349,262.89 was invested. From 1/15/08 through 5/16/13 all dividends were reinvested back into the stock that paid them. If a dividend cut was announced, that stock was sold on the ex-div date of the new, lower dividend.

Top 10 Bank Companies To Buy For 2014: KeyCorp (KEY)

KeyCorp is a bank holding company for KeyBank National Association (KeyBank). Through KeyBank and certain other subsidiaries, the Company provides a range of retail and commercial banking, commercial leasing, investment management, consumer finance and investment banking products and services to individual, corporate and institutional clients through two business segments: Key Community Bank and Key Corporate Bank. As of December 31, 2011, these services were provided through KeyBank�� 1,058 full-service retail banking branches in 14 states, additional offices, a telephone banking call center services group and a network of 1,579 automated teller machines (ATMs) in 15 states. On January 17, 2012, the Company opened another national bank subsidiary.

In addition to the banking services of accepting deposits and making loans, the Bank and trust company subsidiaries offer personal and corporate trust services, personal financial services, access to mutual funds, cash management services, investment banking and capital markets products, and international banking services. Through its bank, trust company and investment adviser subsidiaries, the Company provides investment management services to clients that include corporate and public retirement plans, foundations and endowments, individuals and trust funds. The Company provides other financial services - both within and outside of its primary banking markets - through various nonbank subsidiaries. These services include community development financing, securities underwriting and brokerage. It is also an equity participant in a joint venture that provides merchant services to businesses.

Lending Activities

As of December 31, 2011, the Company�� Commercial, Financial and Agricultural loans, also referred to as Commercial and Industrial, represented 39% of its total loan portfolio. As of December 31, 2011, commercial real estate loans represented approximately 19% of its total loan portfolio. These loans include bo! th owner and nonowner-occupied properties and constitute approximately 27% of its commercial loan portfolio. Its commercial real estate lending business is conducted through two primary sources: its 14-state banking franchise, and Real Estate Capital and Corporate Banking Services. The Company conducts financing arrangements through its equipment finance line of business. Commercial lease financing receivables represented 17% of commercial loans at December 31, 2011. The home equity portfolio is the largest segment of its consumer loan portfolio.

Investment Activities

The Company�� securities portfolio totaled $18 billion at December 31, 2011. Available-for-sale securities were $16 billion at December 31, 2011. Held-to-maturity securities were $2.1 billion at December 31, 2011. At December 31, 2011, it had $2.1 billion in collateralized mortgage obligations (CMOs) in its held-to-maturity securities portfolio. At December 31, 2011, the Company had $15.9 billion invested in CMOs and other mortgage-backed securities in the available-for-sale portfolio. Federal Agency CMOs constitute most of its held-to-maturity securities along with foreign bonds and preferred equity securities. The investments in equity and mezzanine instruments made by its principal investing unit represented 61% of other investments at December 31, 2011. They include direct investments (investments made in a particular company), as well as indirect investments (investments made through funds that include other investors).

Sources of Funds

Domestic deposits are the Company�� primary source of funding. During the year ended December 31, 2011, these deposits averaged $58.5 billion and represented 80% of the funds it used to support loans and other earning assets. Wholesale funds, consisting of deposits in its foreign office and short-term borrowings, averaged $3.4 billion during 2011. At December 31, 2011, the Company had $4.7 billion in time deposits of $100,000 or more.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By David Hanson and Matt Koppenheffer]

  In this segment of The Motley Fool's everything-financials show,�Where the Money Is, banking analysts Matt Koppenheffer and David Hanson tell investors what they will be watching when PNC Financial Services (NYSE: PNC  ) , Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ: HBAN  ) , and KeyCorp� (NYSE: KEY  ) �report earnings this week

• [By Monica Gerson]

  KeyCorp (NYSE: KEY) is estimated to report its Q3 earnings at $0.22 per share on revenue of $1.02 billion.

  St. Jude Medical (NYSE: STJ) is projected to report its Q3 earnings at $0.89 per share oor $1.32 billion.