A Credit Suisse Securities USA LLC analyst said Monday that Countrywide Financial Corp. could be acquired this year.
In a conference call and research report, Moshe Orenbuch said that a number of banks and financial institutions have grown big enough to buy the nation's largest mortgage lender. He did not name any potential buyer or give a price estimate. On the call, Mr. Orenbuch cautioned that a purchase was "far from [a] given."
Calls to Countrywide were not returned by press time. Its shares slipped 0.3% Monday.
