Top 5 Financial Companies To Watch In Right Now

Apple's (NASDAQ: AAPL  ) stock was roughed up last week.

The leading consumer tech giant saw its shares tumble 9% on the week, and this is before tomorrow's quarterly report. The market's bracing itself for soft results, but a 9% weekly plunge ahead of the actual financials seems more than a bit overblown.

However, if you think Apple had it bad, check out how the market pummeled a few of the companies that have long been viewed as Apple sympathy plays. After all, if Apple's prospects are diminishing, one would expect that the iOS beneficiaries would also be taking a hit.

Let's check out a few Apple-related companies that posted double-digit percentage declines this past week.

Company

April 19

Weekly Loss

Cirrus Logic (NASDAQ: CRUS  )

$17.77

(17%)

Top 10 Financial Companies To Watch For 2015: Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust (PEI)

Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust (PREIT), incorporated on September 29, 1997, is a fully integrated, self-managed and self-administered real estate investment trust (REIT). The Company has a primary investment focus on retail shopping malls located in the eastern half of the United States, primarily in the Mid-Atlantic region. As of December 31, 2012, the Company owned interests in 46 retail properties, of which 42 were operating properties, three were development properties and one was classified as held for sale. The 42 operating properties, which are classified in continuing operations, include 36 enclosed malls and six strip and power centers, have a total of 30.7 million square feet and operate in 12 states. The Company and partnerships in which the Company owns an interest owned 23.9 million square feet at these properties (excluding space owned by anchors). The development portion of the Company's portfolio contains three properties in two states, with two classified as mixed use (a combination of retail and other uses) and one classified as other. In January 2013, the Company sold its interests in Paxton Towne Centre in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and Phillipsburg Mall in Phillipsburg, New Jersey. In February 2013, the Company sold Orlando Fashion Square in Orlando, Florida. In November 2013, the Company sold Chambersburg Mall in Chambersburg, PA.

As of December 31, 2012, the Company had four properties, which were classified as held for sale, two of which were malls and two of which were power centers. The Company is engaged in the ownership, management, leasing, acquisition, redevelopment and development of enclosed malls. The Company's malls include national or regional department stores, large format retailers or other anchors and a diverse mix of national, regional and local in-line stores offering apparel (women's, family, teen, children's, men's), shoes, eyewear, cards and gifts, jewelry, sporting goods, home furnishings, drug stores, electronics and books/music/movi! es, among other things. Its malls have restaurants and/or food courts, and some of the malls have multi-screen movie theaters and other entertainment options, either as part of the mall or on outparcels around the perimeter of the mall property. In addition, its malls have outparcels containing restaurants, banks or other stores. It derives its revenue from rent received under leases with tenants for space at retail properties in its real estate portfolio.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Marc Bastow]

  Retail shopping mall real estate investment trust Pennsylvania REIT (PEI) raised its quarterly dividend 11% to 20 cents per share, payable on Dec. 16 to shareholders of record as of Dec. 2.
  PEI Dividend Yield: 4.74%
  

• [By Rich Duprey]

  Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust� (NYSE: PEI  ) �reported first-quarter results yesterday that were below consensus expectations on the top line but came in ahead on the bottom line, causing the company to�raise guidance�for the full year.

Top 5 Financial Companies To Watch In Right Now: iShares Government/Credit Bond ETF (GBF)

iShares Lehman Government/Credit Bond Fund (the Fund) seeks investment results that correspond to the price and yield performance of the United States Government and investment-grade United States corporate securities of the United States bond market as defined by the Lehman Brothers U.S. Government/Credit Index (the Index). The Fund invests in a representative sample of the securities in the Index, which has a similar investment profile as the Index. Due to the use of representative sampling, the Fund may or may not hold all of the securities that are included in the Index.

The Index measures the performance of United States dollar-denominated United States Treasuries, government-related securities and investment-grade United States corporate securities that have a remaining maturity of greater than or equal to one year, and have more than $250 million or more of outstanding face value. The securities must be fixed-rate and non-convertible securities.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jonathan Morgan]

  Bilfinger SE (GBF) climbed 3.1 percent to 74.30 euros. Germany�� second-largest builder predicted a significantly stronger second half after reporting second-quarter net income of 47 million euros ($62.5 million), which was in line with analysts�� estimates.

Top 5 Financial Companies To Watch In Right Now: INTL FCStone Inc.(INTL)

INTL FCStone Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides foreign exchange and treasury, securities execution, physical commodities trading and execution, and structured over-the-counter commodity services worldwide. It offers commodity and risk management services; treasury, global payment, and foreign exchange services; and wholesale market making services in select foreign securities, as well as involved in the origination, structuring, and placement of an array of emerging market debt instruments in the international and domestic capital markets, and trades in various international debt instruments. The company also provides clearing and execution services related to exchange-traded futures and options for the institutional and professional trader market segments; asset management, and commodity financing and facilitation services; and investment banking advisory services. Its customers comprise the producers, consumers, recyclers, and investors in precious metals an d certain base metals; financial institutions, multi-national corporations, and governmental and charitable organizations; and broker-dealers, regional broker-dealers, commercial banks, institutional investors, and investment banks. The company was formerly known as International Assets Holding Corporation and changed its name to INTL FCStone Inc. in March 2011. INTL FCStone Inc. was founded in 1924 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By RichardCox]

  Most of the evidence supporting positions in SPY over QQQ can be seen in the earnings performance so far this season. In the S&P as a whole, roughly 3/4 of the reporting companies have posted results that are better than analyst estimates. When looking at revenues in isolation, slightly more than half of those companies have passed market projections. But these numbers would be much improved without the major earnings misses that have been seen in the large-cap tech space. Examples seen so far include Intel Corp.(INTL), Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), and, more recently, Google(GOOG), and Microsoft (MSFT).

Top 5 Financial Companies To Watch In Right Now: Huntington Bancshares Incorporated(HBAN)

Huntington Bancshares Incorporated operates as the holding company for The Huntington National Bank that provides commercial, small business, and consumer banking services. The company?s Retail and Business Banking segment offers various financial products and services, including checking, savings, and money market accounts, certificates of deposit, consumer loans, and small business loans and leases; and investments, insurance, interest rate risk protection, foreign exchange hedging, and treasury management services to consumer and small business customers. Its Regional and Commercial Banking segment provides commercial lending; depository and liquidity management products; treasury management solutions; equipment and technology leasing; international services; and capital markets services, such as interest rate risk protection, foreign exchange hedging and sales, trading of securities, mezzanine investment capabilities, and employee benefit programs to government, not-f or-profit, health-care, and publicly traded entities. The company?s Automobile Finance and Commercial Real Estate segment offers financing for the purchase of automobiles, and new and used vehicle inventory by automotive dealerships; and financing for land, buildings, and other commercial real estate owned or constructed by real estate developers, automobile dealerships, or other customers. Its Wealth Advisors, Government Finance, and Home Lending segment provides investment management; investment servicing; custody, and corporate trust and retirement plan services; and administrative and operational support to fund to high net worth customers. It also offers online, mobile, and telephone banking services; and operates approximately 1,300 automated teller machines. As of December 31, 2011, the company had 652 branches located in Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Indiana, West Virginia, and Kentucky. Huntington Bancshares Incorporated was founded in 1866 and is headquartered in Columbus, Ohio.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Lauren Pollock]

  Huntington Bancshares Inc.'s(HBAN) fourth-quarter earnings fell 5.7% as the lender’s revenue declined, though it wrote off fewer bad loans and its loan portfolio grew. Shares edged down 1.9% to $9.71 premarket.

• [By Jay Jenkins]

  Free checking? A 24-hour grace period on overdraft fees? Products actually designed to help the consumer better manage their finances? It seems like this sort of customer-centric banking would only exist in a dream world, but at Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ: HBAN  ) , it's reality.

• [By Selena Maranjian]

  The biggest new holdings are Willis Group Holdings�and Whirlpool. Other new holdings of interest include Baidu (NASDAQ: BIDU  ) and Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ: HBAN  ) . Chinese search-engine giant Baidu has been hurt by China's slowing economic growth�as well as by tough competition, such as from Qihoo 360. Many like its profitability and growth prospects, such as in video, and recent news that it's buying a major Chinese mobile apps company sent shares soaring.