Dick Bove Leaves Ladenburg Following Disagreement Related to BankAtlantic Lawsuit
According to a Bloomberg report, Ladenburg Thalmann's (NYSE: LTS) consistently-bearish financial analyst, Dick Bove, has left the company following a disagreement related to the settling of a defamation lawsuit. The news comes as somewhat of a surprise as Bove was one of the first -- and few -- analysts (prior to October of last year) that believed financial stocks had much more room to fall.
The disagreement between Bove and the firm stemmed from a lawsuit by BankAtlantic Bancorp (NYSE: BBX) against Bove last year in which the bank alleged that Bove "defamed the company by saying it might fail in a report titled 'Who is Next?'. Unlike Bove, Ladenburg wished to settle the lawsuit, but despite his firm's attempts, the analyst stayed pat in his stance that "companies shouldn’t be able to muzzle independent analysts by threatening litigation." Bove still maintains that the lawsuit has no merit.
Bove told Bloomberg that "The only way I could protect Ladenburg from more legal fees was to leave the firm and see if I can’t get it resolved on my own."
Bove has already moved to another firm: Stamford, Connecticut-based Rochdale Securities.
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