5 Best Financial Stocks To Watch Right Now

Warren Buffett is usually hands-off when it comes to the companies operating under Berkshire Hathaway's (NYSE: BRK-A  ) (NYSE: BRK-B  ) umbrella, but the Oracle of Omaha decided to step in and shut down a controversial practice at Business Wire.

In this segment of The Motley Fool's financials-focused show, Where the Money Is, banking analysts Matt Koppenheffer and David Hanson discuss Buffett's decision.

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10 Best Prefered Stocks For 2015: Cape Bancorp Inc.(CBNJ)

Cape Bancorp, Inc. operates as the holding company for the Cape Bank that provides a line of business and personal banking products to retail customers and small and mid-sized businesses primarily in Cape May and Atlantic Counties, New Jersey. Its deposit products include non-interest-bearing demand deposits, such as checking accounts; interest-bearing demand accounts, including NOW and money market accounts; savings accounts; and certificates of deposit. The company?s loan products portfolio comprises commercial mortgage loans, one-to-four family residential mortgage loans, commercial business loans, construction loans, home equity loans and lines of credit, and other consumer loans. It operates through its 16 full service branch offices located in Atlantic and Cape May counties in southern New Jersey; and a loan production office in Burlington County. The company was founded in 1923 and is based in Cape May Court House, New Jersey.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Tim Melvin]

  Right now I know that silver miners like Pan American Silver (PAAS) and Coeur Mining (CDE) are very cheap on an asset basis. I know that oil and gas producers like Swift Energy (SFY) and WPX Energy (WPX) are priced as if no one will ever use the stuff again. I know that small banks like Cape Bancorp (CBNJ) and Essa Bancorp (ESSA) are crazy-cheap — and if the world does not end, those stocks will be a lot higher in a few years.

5 Best Financial Stocks To Watch Right Now: Entertainment Properties Trust (EPR)

EPR Properties, a real estate investment trust (REIT), develops, owns, leases, and finances entertainment and related properties in the United States and Canada. Its properties include megaplex theatres, entertainment retail centers, and destination recreational and specialty properties. As of December 31, 2007, the company had a real estate portfolio of 79 megaplex theatre properties located in 26 states in the U.S. and Ontario, Canada; 1 additional theatre property under development; 8 entertainment retail centers located in Westminster, Colorado, New Rochelle, New York, White Plains, New York, Burbank, California, and Ontario, Canada; and 1 additional entertainment retail center under development and land parcels leased to restaurant and retail operators. EPR Properties qualifies as a REIT under the Internal Revenue Code and would not be subject to federal income tax to the extent that it distributes at least 90% of its taxable income to its shareholders. The company wa s founded in 1997 and is based in Kansas City, Missouri.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Lawrence Meyers]

  I also jumped on the 9% Preferred Series E of an interesting REIT called EPR Properties (EPR), a $2.38 billion trust that owns 114 megaplex movie theaters; nine entertainment retail centers; seven family entertainment centers where one can bowl, enjoy nightlife, or sit atop observational towers; 13 metro ski parks; three water parks; four golf complexes, and 48 public charter schools.

• [By Marc Bastow]

  Entertainment properties real estate investment trust EPR Properties (EPR) raised its monthly dividend 28.5 cents per share, payable Feb. 18 to shareholders of record Jan. 31. EPR stock is the highest yielder of this week’s dividend stocks.
  EPR Dividend Yield: 6.77%

• [By Monica Gerson]

  EPR Properties (NYSE: EPR) closed a deal to acquire the Camelback Mountain Resort in Tannersville, PA, for around $70 million. EPR Properties shares gained 0.31% to close at $48.59 on Friday.

5 Best Financial Stocks To Watch Right Now: Kabe Exploration Inc (KABX)

Kabe Exploration Inc., incorporated on December 15, 2005, is an exploration stage company. The Company focuses to drill shallow wells 3300-6000 feet. on a turnkey basis.

On February 21, 2013, Kabe purchased 320 Mineral lease acres in Butler County Kansas representing a 81% Net Revenue Interest. As of December 31, 2012, the Company did not generate any revenues.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By CRWE]

  Today, KABX has shed (-5.26%) down -0.0010 at $.0180 with�158,078 shares in movement thus far (ref. google finance Delayed: 12:22PM EDT June 19, 2013), but don�� let this get you down.

  Kabe Exploration Inc. previously reported it has entered into a letter of intent to form a joint venture partnership with Canadian oil and gas holding company International Equity Partners Oil & Gas, Inc. for the exploration and development of 7,300 acres of oil leases in the highly productive Mississippian field of southern Kansas. International Equity Partners Oil & Gas will contribute capital and expertise toward developing the assets for production. KABE�� five year operational plan is expected to bring 24 new oil wells into production.

5 Best Financial Stocks To Watch Right Now: Fifth Third Bancorp(FITB)

Fifth Third Bancorp operates as a diversified financial services holding company in the United States. The company?s Commercial Banking segment offers credit intermediation, cash management, and financial services; lending and depository products; and foreign exchange and international trade finance, derivatives and capital markets services, asset-based lending, real estate finance, public finance, commercial leasing, and syndicated finance for business, government, and professional customers. Its Branch Banking segment provides deposit and loan, and lease products to individuals and small businesses. This segment?s products include checking and savings accounts, home equity loans and lines of credit, credit cards, loans for automobile and personal financing needs, and cash management services. The company?s Consumer Lending segment engages in the mortgage and home equity lending activities, such as origination, retention, and servicing of mortgage and home equity loans ; and other indirect lending activities, which include loans to consumers through mortgage brokers and automobile dealers. Its Investment Advisors segment offers investment alternatives for individuals, companies, and not-for-profit organizations. It offers retail brokerage services to individual clients, and broker dealer services to the institutional marketplace. This segment also provides asset management services; holistic strategies to affluent clients in wealth planning, investing, insurance, and wealth protection; and advisory services for institutional clients, as well as advises the company?s proprietary family of mutual funds. As of December 31, 2011, the company operated 1,316 full-service banking centers, including 104 Bank Mart locations; and 2,425 automated teller machines in 12 states in the midwestern and southeastern regions of the United States. The company was founded in 1862 and is headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Reuters]

  Steven Senne/AP BOSTON -- Companies that help Target process payments could face millions of dollars in fines and costs resulting from the unprecedented data breach that struck the retailer during the holiday shopping season. Investigators are still sorting through just how thieves compromised about 40 million payment cards and the information of about 70 million Target (TGT) customers. But people who have reviewed past data breaches believe Target's partners could face consumer lawsuits and fines that payment networks such as Visa (V) and MasterCard (MA) often levy after cybersecurity incidents. Target's partners "have deep pockets and are intimately involved in certain aspects of how Target gets paid," said Jamie Pole, a cybersecurity consultant in Asheboro, N.C., who works for government agencies and the financial industry. Fines and settlement costs could reach into the millions of dollars for individual companies, he said, though much will depend on how the ultimate liability for the breach is determined. Boston attorney Cynthia Larose of Mintz Levin said Target would likely seek to add its partners as defendants to lawsuits already filed over the breach. "These class-action lawsuits start to bring everyone in at some point," she said. After its systems were penetrated by hackers in the mid-2000s, retailer TJX Cos. (TJX) agreed to pay up to $40.9 million to cover fraud costs in a settlement with Visa. Visa also issued penalties of $880,000 against Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB) of Ohio, which processed transactions for TJX. Asked about the business relationships and possible costs, Target spokeswoman Molly Snyder declined to comment, citing the ongoing investigation and pending suits. A Visa spokeswoman declined to comment. A MasterCard spokesman said the company couldn't discuss an ongoing investigation. Handling Target Transactions Several companies are involved in any purchase from a store such as Target. A bank issues the consumer's payment card

• [By Anand Chokkavelu, CFA]

  I'm buying more of some of my favorites in the financials-centric real-money portfolio I manage for The Motley Fool: best-in-class megabank Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC  ) , ongoing insurance comeback story AIG (NYSE: AIG  ) , and Midwestern regional banker Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ: FITB  ) .

• [By Amanda Alix]

  Other banks were involved, too
  Bank of America was by no means the only lender to possibly engage in this behavior. Last February, Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC  ) learned�that a complaint against itself and QBE Insurance had been given class action status in Florida, while two months later, Fifth Third Bank (NASDAQ: FITB  ) was sued�by homeowners alleging that Fifth Third engaged in the same type of conduct, setting up a reinsurance company through which insurance money was funneled.

• [By Monica Gerson]

  Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ: FITB) is projected to report its Q1 earnings at $0.41 per share on revenue of $1.51 billion.

  Philip Morris International (NYSE: PM) is estimated to report its Q1 earnings at $1.16 per share on revenue of $7.01 billion.