The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: Deutsche Bank Ag, Bank of America, Citigroup, Wells Fargo and Avnet

CHICAGO, March 28, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include Deutsche Bank Ag (NYSE: DB), Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC), Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C), Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) and Avnet, Inc. (NYSE: AVT).

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Here are highlights from Tuesday's Analyst Blog:

Duetsche Bank Lawsuit Costs $32.5M

Deutsche Bank Ag (NYSE: DB) has resolved a lawsuit related to the mortgage backed securities that were sold to investors prior to the U.S. Housing market crisis, according to a Reuters report. The company is said to have misled investors regarding the risk profile of these securities. Deutsche Bank will pay $32.5 million for settling the lawsuit.

The settlement now awaits the approval of the U.S. District Judge. Preliminary papers were filed in a federal court in New York, yesterday. Notably, Massachusetts Bricklayers and Masons Trust Funds is a lead plaintiff in this case.

The Accusation

Deutsche Bank is accused of making misstatements and omissions in the offer document of these securities in 2006. These were made with respect to the mortgage loans' underwriting and appraisal practices. The mortgage loans were clubbed into securities and retained in two trusts.

Investors were misled about the risk profile of the loans and sold the securities as highly rated one. When the loans defaulted and the securities lost value, the company made profit by using credit-default swaps.

Our Take

We believe that though the lawsuit settlement is a dent on Deutsche Bank's financials and its reputation, it also lessens the company's litigation overhang.

Besides Deutsche Bank, a number of Wall Street majors such as Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC), Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) and Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) have faced lawsuits for their roles in mortgage-backed securities offering. These companies have similarly gone through settlements and paid millions for such act of misleading and misrepresentation to investors.

Deutsche Bank currently retains a Zacks #3 Rank, which translates into a short-term 'Hold' rating.

Avnet Acquires Ascendant Technology

Avnet, Inc. (NYSE: AVT) recently announced that the company will acquire Ascendant Technology LLC in a move to accelerate its global solutions distribution model.

Incorporated in 2003, Ascendant Technology provides IT services with operations in North America, Europe, Brazil and India,

In particular, the company specializes in developing end-to-end IBM solutions which enable organizations to optimize their investments in information technology and thereby achieve the desired business goals.

Generating revenues of $90 million, Avnet has supported large and small businesses to develop and deploy e-Commerce, enterprise portal and collaboration, web content management, infrastructure automation and cloud computing solutions.

The company is expected to close the acquisition in the next 45 days. The acquisition will be integrated into the operations of Avnet Technology Solutions.

Based in New York, Avnet is one of the world's largest industrial distributors. The Technology Solutions segment from Avnet focuses on the global value-added distribution of enterprise computing servers and systems, software, storage, services and complex solutions.

Companies like Avnet need to continuously make acquisitions to grow its geographic footprint along with market coverage on a global basis for electronic components and computer products and solutions.

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