|
|
|
ONLINE FEATURES
Book Reviews
BW Video
Columnists
Interactive Gallery
Newsletters
Past Covers
Philanthropy
Podcasts
Special Reports
BLOGS
The Auto Beat
Byte of the Apple
Europe Insight
Eye on Asia
Getting In
Investing Insights
The New Entrepreneur
NEXT: Innovation Tools & Trends
On Media
Technology at Work
The Tech Beat
Traveler's Check
TECHNOLOGY
Product Reviews
Tech Stats
Hands On
AUTOS
Home Page
Auto Reviews
Car Care & Safety
INNOVATION
& DESIGN Home Page Architecture Brand Equity Auto Design Game Room SMALLBIZ Smart Answers Success Stories Today's Tip FINANCE Investing: Europe Annual Reports Bloomberg BW50 SCOREBOARDS Hot Growth Companies: 2008 Mutual Funds Info Tech 100 B-SCHOOLS Undergrad Programs Rankings & Profiles |  |
NOVEMBER 7, 2005
Hungry Banks Are Eyeing Advanta  After Bank of America (BAC
) acquired credit-card lender MBNA (KRB
) in mid-July, other banks started looking for acquisitions. One target: Advanta (ADVNB
) (ADVNB), No. 3 in small-business credit cards, whose stock rose from 28 to 31 after the MBNA deal. Advanta, now at 26, is worth 33 to 35 in a buyout, says one New York hedge-fund pro close to one of two banks eyeing Advanta. He did not want to be named. Advanta declined comment. CEO Dennis Alter and family control 40% of the A voting shares. Citigroup (C
) tops the Visa-MasterCard market for small business, with a 20% share. Wells Fargo (WFC
) has 17%; Advanta 14%. Scott Valentin of Friedman, Billings, Ramsey rates Advanta "outperform." Should it become a takeover target, "we would value it in the low-to-mid 30s," he says. After a strong third quarter, he raised his 2006 earning estimate by 9 cents, to $2.25 a share. His 2005 estimate stays at $1.93.
Note: Unless otherwise noted, neither the sources cited in Inside Wall Street nor their firms hold positions in the stocks under discussion. Similarly, they have no investment banking or other financial relationships with them.  By Gene G. Marcial Get BusinessWeek directly on your desktop with our RSS feeds.  Add BusinessWeek news to your Web site with our headline feed. Click to buy an e-print or reprint of a BusinessWeek or BusinessWeek Online story or video. To subscribe online to BusinessWeek magazine, please click here. Learn more, go to the BusinessWeekOnline home page  | | |
 Copyright 2005, Bloomberg L.P.Terms of Use | Privacy Notice |
Printer-Friendly Version