Following the collapse of the Silicon Valley Bank about a year ago, regional banks fell in value and then continued to get the cold shoulder from Wall Street. The rescue this month of a collapsing New York Community Bancorp by former Treasury Secretary (and Tik Tok enthusiast) Steve Mnuchin is further evidence of the sector’s issues.
Now that the problems are widely known, maybe it’s time to consider which stocks in the regional banking group may be of interest to those longer-term investors who research for value stocks. With that in mind, here are 4 regional banks now trading below book value and paying dividends.
4 Russell 2000 Regional Banks.
Ameris is a bank headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia and serving customers in the South and Southeast with 200 locations, both full-service and mortgage-only. The financial institution has been in business since 1971. Market capitalization is $3.27 billion.
The stock trades with a price-earnings ratio of 12.15 at a 5% discount to its book value. This year’s earnings are up by 11% and up over the past 5 years by 6.83%. The debt-to-equity ratio is .20. Average daily volume is 409,000 shares. Ameris pays a dividend of 1.27%.
Fulton Financial offers financial products and services in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware and Virginia from corporate headquarters in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The company has been in business since 1882. Market cap comes to $2.50 billion
Earnings this year are off by 8.08% — over the past 5 years, EPS has shown growth of 6.84%. Now trading at 99% of book value, the stock’s price-earnings ratio is 9.40. Fulton has a debt-to-equity ratio of .94. The bank offers investors a dividend of 4.15%.
Old National was founded in 1834 and continues to operate throughout the Midwest from dual headquarters in Chicago, Illinois and Evansville, Indiana. Analysts at Citibank in December 2023 initiated coverage with a “buy” rating and a price target of $17. Barclays initiated coverage in March 2024 with an “overweight” rating and a price target of $20.
Market capitalization is $4.93 billion. The stock trades at a 7% discount to its book value with a price-earnings ratio of 8.70. Earnings this year are down by 10.73% and up over the past 5 years by 9.72%. The amount of debt is equal to shareholder equity. Old National pays a 3.32% dividend.
United Bankshares is dual headquartered in Washington, D. C. and Charleston, West Virginia and serves banking customers in the South and East Coast. It’s been publicly traded on the Nasdaq National Market System since 1987. Market capitalization is $4.61 billion.
The stock trades at a 3% discount to book with a price-earnings ratio of 12.62. This year’s earnings are down by 2.61%. The past 5 years earnings are up by 2.02%. The debt-to-equity ratio is .44. United Bankshares pays a 4.27% dividend.
Stats courtesy of FinViz.com. Charts courtesy of Stockcharts.com.
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