Visa Inc (V), AFLAC Incorporated (AFL), BB&T Corporation (BBT): These Financial-Services Companies Are Poised to Grow

BB&T Corporation (NYSE:BBT) advanced 15%. It’s a sizable Southeastern regional bank, posting solid numbers in recent financial reports. Its second quarter featured improved credit quality and improving loan and deposit balances, along with better-than-expected earnings. Management noted that overall, “it was a very solid quarter, especially given the kind of sluggish economy we have. Basically, frankly, everything looks good except expenses.” Others, such as analyst Stephen Simpson, have pointed out that BB&T Corporation (NYSE:BBT)’s loan growth is a bit sluggish — though not much more than its peers. The bank yields 2.6%.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) gained 14% and yields 2.5%. It’s respected enough by folks in Omaha that it’s one of the top 10 holdings in Berkshire Hathaway‘s stock portfolio, with a 27% increase in the position reported in the last quarter. The bank is looking to profit from mobile banking, charging fees for check deposits and developing voice-recognition capabilities in its apps, to increase convenience.

The big picture
Demand for financial services isn’t going away anytime soon. A well-chosen ETF can grant you instant diversification across any industry or group of companies — and make investing in and profiting from it that much easier.

The article These Financial-Services Companies Are Poised to Grow originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Selena Maranjian.

Longtime Fool contributor Selena Maranjian, whom you can follow on Twitter, owns shares of Berkshire Hathaway. The Motley Fool recommends AFLAC, Berkshire Hathaway, MasterCard, and Visa and owns shares of Berkshire Hathaway, MasterCard, and Visa.

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