After having invested before in $1COV (+0.13%) with the aim to be acquired by Adnoc/XRG and another investment in $ILTY Illimity Bank in Italy giving access to $IF (+0.46%) Banca IFIS with a 10% discount.

I'm now thinking to invest in further banking consolidation. Since there seems to be a wave of banking consolidations coming up both cross boarder and within individual European countries.

Italy shows:

$UCG (+0.37%) Unicredit stakebuilding in both $ALPHA (+0.77%) Alphabank & $CBK (+0.74%) Commerzbank and a failled attempt to acquire $BAMI (-0.68%) Banco BPM. We saw $BMPS (+0.42%) Monte dei Pachi acquire $MB (-0.78%) Mediobanca. $BPE (+0.15%) Bper Banca merge with $BPSO (+0.09%) and rumored to be on the wishlist of Unicredit.

Denmark is consolidating but could be still more ongoing:

A recent merger of $SYDB (+1.36%) Sydbank, Arbejdernes Landsbank & $VJBA Vestjysk Bank.

In Spain

We've seen a major but failed attempt to forget about the Spanish attempt of $BBVA (+1.59%) Banco Bilbao of $SAB (-0.43%) Banco Sabadell.

The Netherlands:

$ING (+0.81%) ING taking a substantial stake in $VLK (-0.75%) Van Lanschot Kempen.

$ABN (+1.1%) Doing several take overs in Germany and buying the trading app Bux and rumored to be bought themselves.

When thinking this through I see a potential for take over but, if it won't happen there is still good dividends to be earned. Therefore there is less of a need of a quick turn around.

I'm now looking for a "smaller" bank that traded and a likely take over candidate.

Where would you invest?

$BPE (+0.15%) - Bper Banca - Italy

$BAMI (-0.68%) - Banca BPM - Italy

$ABN (+1.1%) - ABN Amro Bank - Netherlands

$ALPHA (+0.77%) - Alpha Bank - Greece

$JYSK (+0.77%) - Jyske Bank - Denmark

$ALR (-0.43%) - Ailor Bank - Poland

Any other alternatives, or opinions about this idea, I'm happy to read!

I have been building my portfolio this year and it is doing quite well. Currently my focus is diversifying my portfolio. I have some nice performers in my portfolio like $BESI (+0.91%) , $ABN (+1.1%) , $EVO (-1.69%) , $VLK (-0.75%) . A few others are still underperforming for now but are known stable companies like $ALV (-0.17%) and $TTE (+1.7%) . My focus now is also a bit towards US stocks due to dollar diversification since I am mainly invested in Europe, Switserland and Scandinavia. I am always looking for companies with strong balance sheets, low debt ratio's compared to their peers, growth, dividend and maybe undervalued. One great example is $EVO (-1.69%) which I expect to launch🚀 in the coming year.

I'm looking at three dividend stocks right now: $PFE (-0.32%), $AEP (+0.45%) and $ENEL (-0.91%). They each have different profiles, and I'm trying to figure out which could be the most attractive at this point.

$PFE (-0.32%) seems undervalued. The stock is still well below its pre-COVID levels, the balance sheet is strong, and the dividend is over 5 percent. The real question is whether the company can return to solid growth with its pipeline.

$AEP (+0.45%) is a US utility with stable cash flow, a solid dividend track record, and relatively low debt. It doesn’t move fast, but it offers a good level of reliability and income, especially if rates come down.

$ENEL (-0.91%) is more of a question mark. The dividend is growing by nearly 9 percent a year and paid in multiple installments, which I like. But the stock is already up over 20 percent this year. Debt is quite high, and revenue growth is limited. I like the exposure to renewables, but I'm not sure if this is the right entry point.

• What do you think of these names?
• Any clear favourites? Or red flags?

Also curious: what are your expectations for the USD-EUR exchange rate in the second half of the year? I'm considering the FX angle too, since two of these names are US-listed.

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