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US, SunTrust Announce Nearly $1B Settlement / Who Owns SunTrust?

Alex Constantine - June 18, 2014

BlackRock is the largest institutional owner of SunTrust. And BlackRock has been busily buying the homes left vacant by faulty SunTrust mortgage loans. I don't suppose there could be a "conspiracy" involved. If so, it is only an addled "theory" that no sober, serious mass media "journalist" would consider pursuing ... (BTW, BlackRock is on intimate terms with the CIA, a signally corrupt intelligence agency in Virginia that had a central role in the knockover of the S&Ls in the 1980s, as reported in "Inside Job: The Looting of America's Savings and Loans," by Fricker and Muolo.) Note that the Vanguard Group -- a bastion of the Religious Right and ultra-conservatives of the GOP (also the CIA) -- owns a whopping share of SunTrust, too. Nothing to see here, move it along ... - AC

US, SunTrust Announce Nearly $1B Settlement

By ERIC TUCKER
Associated Press, Jun 17, 2014

SunTrust has agreed to pay nearly $1 billion to resolve allegations that it underwrote and endorsed faulty mortgage loans, the Justice Department announced Tuesday.

The $968 million settlement, reached with the Justice Department and other government agencies, will include money for homeowner relief and a requirement that the company improve its handling of mortgage loans and foreclosures.

In announcing the agreement, authorities said SunTrust Mortgage, a Richmond, Virginia-based mortgage lender and subsidiary of SunTrust Banks Inc., originated and underwrote bad loans between 2006 and 2012, gave borrowers false and misleading information about the status of foreclosure proceedings and charged unauthorized fees.

The company's own internal documents showed an awareness of the problem, the government alleged, with one 2012 report referencing a "broken loan origination process."

"SunTrust's conduct is a prime example of the widespread underwriting failures that helped bring about the financial crisis" of 2008, Attorney General Eric Holder said in a statement. He said he expected similar cases in the future.

As part of the deal, SunTrust has agreed to pay $500 million to help borrowers at risk of default and homeowners who are underwater on their mortgages, and $418 million to resolve allegations that it underwrote bad loans. It's also agreed to a $50 million cash penalty, with $40 million to be distributed to borrowers and homeowners.

The settlement also involves the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and state attorneys general from across the country. A monitor will ensure compliance with the agreement, which was filed in federal court in Washington.

SunTrust chief executive William H. Rogers Jr. said in a statement that SunTrust was pleased to have resolved the allegations. He said the company has made improvements to its mortgage underwriting processes and internal controls, including increased training.

SunTrust had announced the anticipated settlement in October.

Who Owns SunTrust Banks?

By John Maxfield
The Motley Fool, March 4, 2013

When it comes to investing, going with the crowd will rarely -- if ever -- make you rich. If your objective is to buy low and sell high, then, in the words of Warren Buffett, you must be "greedy when others are fearful and fearful when others are greedy." This is the foundation of contrarian investing.

But there's a twist. To be a contrarian investor, you must first know what to be contrary to. And this is where the SEC's invaluable EDGAR database comes in. Every quarter, companies and large institutional investors are required to disclose their equity holdings. By patching these together, we can get a fuller picture of a particular stock's popularity.

What follows, in turn, is a look at the principal owners of SunTrust Banks' (NYSE: STI  ) outstanding common stock.

A broad overview

As you can see in the following chart, the majority of SunTrust's 532 million shares are held by institutional investors. Company insiders, including board members and corporate executives, own a further 0.35% of the outstanding common stock. And the public at large owns the remaining 16%.

stioverview large - US, SunTrust Announce Nearly $1B Settlement / Who Owns SunTrust?

Source: S&P's Capital IQ.

Institutional investors
Digging in a big further, the largest institutional stakeholders in SunTrust are bond giantBlackRock, the asset management division of State Street, T. Rowe Price Group, The Vanguard Group, and Dodge & Cox.

stiinstitutions large - US, SunTrust Announce Nearly $1B Settlement / Who Owns SunTrust?

Source: S&P's Capital IQ.

The largest buyers have been Franklin Resources and Cramer Rosenthal McGlynn, which have recently acquired 6.8 million and 3.2 million shares of common stock, respectively. Meanwhile, the two largest sellers of late have been Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS  ) and T. Rowe Price Group, which have disposed of 5.7 million and 3.7 million shares, respectively.

Biggest insiders
Turning to inside investors, the largest inside owner is James Wells III, the former CEO, followed by a pair of directors. The bank's current CEO, William Henry Rogers Jr., is fourth on the list with 111,245 shares.

stiinsiders large - US, SunTrust Announce Nearly $1B Settlement / Who Owns SunTrust?

Source: S&P's Capital IQ.

The Foolish bottom line

While insider and institutional ownership together represent only one metric, it's nevertheless an important one. Beyond hinting at the overall market's sentiment toward a stock, it also gives investors insight into the confidence of the people best positioned to predict a company's current state and future success.

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