Dick Bove Leaves Ladenburg Following Disagreement Related to BankAtlantic Lawsuit

February 17, 2009 2:52 PM EST

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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Comments

Dick Bove
dancing bear on May 27, 2009 04:33 PM

Dick Bove also thought Lehman was a buy shortly before they filed for bankruptcy. This guy has wrong so many times, why would anyone take his advice now!!

dick bove
Nick DeBenedetto on Feb 23, 2009 04:30 PM

last year on cnbc dick bove said that citi(C) trading at $20/sh was the buy of a lifetime. i remember it very well because i bought C after his opinion and i lost a lot of money!


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