Six insurers have been given the green light to receive money from the Treasury's Troubled Asset Relief Program. But not all of those insurers are sure they'll take the money. One insurer that will is Hartford Financial Services Corp. (NYSE:HIG), which initially shot up on the news but finished in the red following the market's negative close on Friday. Overall, the Dow dropped 62.68, or 0.75%, to 8,268.64, while the Nasdaq fell 9.07, or 0.54%, to 1,680.14
Hartford closed down 15 cents, or 1.02%, to $14.60 as it expects to receive $3.4 billion in capital from the government. Meanwhile, fellow insurer Ameriprise Financial Inc. (NYSE:AMP) said Friday afternoon that it is declining the TARP money. Ameriprise shares end up 11 cents, or 0.44%, to $25.17. And Prudential Financial Inc. (NYSE:PRU) is still uncertain whether it will accept the government funds, according to The Washington Post. Prudential closed down $1.62, or 4.11%, at $37.75. The other three insurers that have been given the OK to receive TARP money are Prudential Financial, Allstate Corp. (NYSE:ALL) and Principal Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:PFG).
Meanwhile, shares of Bank of America Corp. (NYSE:BAC) fell 64 cents, or 5.66%, to $10.67 as talks are mounting that the government will force change on the company's board. One stake holder, CtW Investment Group, told The Deal: "Given the taxpayer dollars now at risk at BofA, it's appropriate and necessary that the government also weigh in. It certainly intensifies the pressure on the board to move aggressively to both reconstitute itself and accelerate CEO succession."
Lastly, shares of Target Corp. (NYSE:TGT) slipped 11 cents, or 0.27%, to $40.37 as hedge fund Pershing Square Capital Management cut its stake in the retailer as well as in Wendy's/Arby's Group Inc. (NYSE:WEN) and Visa Inc. (NYSE:V), while selling its entire stake in Dr Pepper Snapple Group Inc. (NYSE:DPS). Pershing also received a seal of approval from proxy advisory firm Proxy Governance on its proxy fight with the retailer. - Gerald Magpily
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