The broader stock market didn't seem to mind the fact that first-quarter GDP was revised downwards, and that was especially the case for regional banks today.
Unlike many Wall Street banks, these regional banks are very tied to the American consumer, and they were smiling after hearing today's new numbers.
In this segment of The Motley Fool's everything-financials show,�Where the Money Is, banking analysts Matt Koppenheffer and David Hanson discuss a few stocks moving and shaking on the news.
Banks have been on a comeback trail, leading to big outperformance by bank stocks. But many investors are still spooked by "too big to fail" banking giants and their opaque balance sheets. Could that make regional bank Huntington Bancshares the perfect investment? To help figure out whether Huntington is a buy today, I invite you to read our premium research report on the bank. Click here now for instant access.
10 Best Gold Stocks To Buy For 2015: NCI Inc.(NCIT)
NCI, Inc. provides information technology (IT) and professional services and solutions to the United States Federal Government defense, intelligence, and civilian agencies. It offers enterprise systems management services, including infrastructure operations and management; outsourcing and managed; infrastructure consolidation and modernization; public/private cloud computing; planning and disaster recovery; virtual desktop infrastructure; application and network management; network design, implementation, and migration; network monitoring and performance evaluation; multi-site environments; and data center modernization and consolidation. The company also provides network engineering services comprising architecture development and design; protocol and topology optimization; disaster response planning and recovery; installation, test, and evaluation; network configuration and compliance audit; network security evaluation; protocol and topology optimization; reliability an d contingency assessment; requirements analysis; redundant routing/switching solutions; and enterprise vulnerability management. In addition, it offers cybersecurity and information assurance services consisting of intrusion detection/prevention system development; public key infrastructure implementation; certification and accreditation; computer forensics and ediscovery; policy and procedures development; threat assessment and mitigation; products evaluation and integration; security test and evaluation; cybersecurity fusion centers; and risk management and continuous monitoring. Further, the company provides software development and systems engineering services; program management and lifecycle support services; professional engineering, logistics, and support services; health IT and informatics services; and modeling, simulation, and training services. NCI, Inc. is headquartered in Reston, Virginia.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By CRWE]
NCI, Inc. (NASDAQ:NCIT) will issue its third quarter 2012 financial results after the market closes on Wednesday, October 31, 2012. Management will then discuss the results, as well as operating trends and future performance expectations, on a conference call beginning at 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time.
Top 10 Regional Bank Stocks To Invest In 2014: Diana Shipping inc. (DSX)
Diana Shipping Inc. provides shipping transportation services. It transports dry bulk cargoes that include commodities, such as iron ore, coal, grain, and other materials along worldwide shipping routes. As of December 31, 2010, the company?s fleet consisted of 23 dry bulk carriers, including 14 Panamax, 1 Post-Panamax, and 8 Capesize dry bulk carriers with a combined carrying capacity of approximately 2.5 million deadweight tonnage. Its customers include national, regional, and international companies. The company was formerly known as Diana Shipping Investments Corp. and changed its name to Diana Shipping Inc. in February 2005. Diana Shipping Inc. was founded in 1999 and is based in Athens, Greece.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Dan Newman]
For example, when prices were high and companies, such as Diana Shipping� (NYSE: DSX ) and�DryShips (NASDAQ: DRYS ) , ordered more ships, these ships were finally completed a few years later when shipping prices had already cratered. Now, Diana's fleet is on average only 6.4 years old, while DryShips' fleet is on average 7.4 years old, when the typical life of a ship is 25 years. While these young fleets might be good as an investment in the future if global trade picks up, today's troubled eurozone and slowing China will leave these newer ships wanting for higher demand.
- [By Nickey Friedman]
China announced it is shooting for 7.5% GDP for 2014. At the sound of that target, DryShips (NASDAQ: DRYS ) and�Diana Shipping (NYSE: DSX ) are likely celebrating. China is the primary country these days responsible for rising market rates for dry shipping, but something in the announcement may warrant a bit of caution.
Top 10 Regional Bank Stocks To Invest In 2014: Credit Lyonnais SA (CLP)
Cr茅dit Lyonnais Group is engaged in retail financial services, asset management and investment and corporate banking. The Company's banking activities include personal banking, professional and small business banking, e-banking and middle market banking. The Company offers cash management and associated services, international business, advisory services and corporate finance. Its asset management services are involved in mutual funds, institutional clients and defining the investment strategy for the domestic private banking unit. The Company also offers structured finance, export finance and international trade finance. Cr茅dit Lyonnais has a network of 1,834 branches in France and operations in 55 countries worldwide. Advisors' Opinion:- [By Sean Williams]
Another growth driver looks to be its pending $8.6 billion merger with Colonial Properties Trust (NYSE: CLP ) . The combined entity would become the second-largest U.S. based residential REIT, with 85,000 apartment units. Opposition to the deal from some of Colonial's shareholders does exist, but comparatively speaking, MAA is in great shape either way. It already has a high occupancy rate, and the addition of Colonial's properties would only further serve to enhance its rental pricing power.
- [By Rich Duprey]
Apartment-only real estate investment trust�Mid-America Apartment Communities� (NYSE: MAA ) once again is snapping up properties, this time announcing Monday that it is adding�multifamily housing operator Colonial Properties Trust (NYSE: CLP ) to its portfolio in an $8.6 billion transaction.�
Top 10 Regional Bank Stocks To Invest In 2014: Assurant Inc (AIZ)
Assurant, Inc. (Assurant) is a provider of specialized insurance products and related services in North America and select worldwide markets. The Company operates in four segments: Assurant Solutions, Assurant Specialty Property, Assurant Health, and Assurant Employee Benefits. The products offered by the segments include warranties and service contracts, pre-funded funeral insurance, lender-placed homeowners insurance, manufactured housing homeowners insurance, individual health and small employer group health insurance, group dental, disability, and life insurance and employee-funded voluntary benefits. On June 21, 2011, the Company acquired the SureDeposit business, the provider of security deposit alternatives to the multifamily housing industry. In October 2013, FirstService Corporation completed the sale of its Field Asset Services business to Assurant, Inc. In October 2013, Assurant Inc acquired Lifestyle Services Group Ltd.
Assurant Solutions
Assurant Solutions targets three product areas: domestic and international extended service contracts (ESC) and warranties, preneed life insurance, and international credit insurance. Through partnerships with retailers and original equipment manufacturers, the Company underwrites and provides administrative services for ESC and warranties. These contracts provide consumers with coverage on cellular phones, personal computers, consumer electronics, appliances, automobiles and recreational vehicles, protecting them from certain covered losses. It pays the cost of repairing or replacing customers��property in the event of mechanical breakdown, accidental damage, and casualty losses such as theft, fire, and water damage. The Company provides administration, claims handling and customer service. Preneed life insurance allows individuals to prepay for a funeral in a single payment or in multiple payments over a fixed number of years. The insurance policy proceeds are used to address funeral costs at death. These products are only so! ld in the United States and Canada and are generally structured as whole life insurance policies in the United States and annuity products in Canada.
The Company�� credit insurance products offer protection from life events and uncertainties that arise in purchasing and borrowing transactions. Credit insurance programs offer consumers the option to protect a credit card balance or installment loan in the event of death, involuntary unemployment or disability, and are generally available to all consumers without the underwriting restrictions that apply to term life insurance. In addition to the domestic market, the Company operates in Canada, the United Kingdom, Argentina, Brazil, Puerto Rico, Chile, Germany, Spain, Italy, Mexico and China. In these markets, it primarily sells ESC and credit insurance products through agreements with financial institutions, retailers and wireless service providers.
Assurant Specialty Property
The product line within Assurant Specialty Property is homeowners insurance, consisting principally of fire and dwelling hazard insurance offered through its lender-placed programs. The lender-placed program provides collateral protection to lenders, mortgage servicers and investors in mortgaged properties in the event that a homeowner does not maintain insurance on a mortgaged dwelling. Lender-placed insurance coverage is not limited to the outstanding loan balance; it provides structural coverage, similar to that of a standard homeowners policy. The policy is based on the replacement cost of the property and ensures that a home can be repaired or rebuilt completely in the event of damage. The Company also provides insurance to some of its clients on properties that have been foreclosed and are being managed by its clients. This type of insurance is called Real Estate Owned (REO) insurance. Lender-placed and voluntary manufactured housing insurance: Manufactured housing insurance is offered on a lender-placed and voluntary basis. Lender-plac! ed insura! nce is issued after an insurance tracking process similar to that described above. The tracking is performed by Assurant Specialty Property using an insurance tracking administration system, or by the lenders themselves.
The Company has developed products in adjacent and emerging markets, such as the lender-placed flood and mandatory insurance rental markets. It also acts as an administrator for the United States Government under the voluntary National Flood Insurance Program, for which it earns a fee for collecting premiums and processing claims. This business is 100% reinsured to the Federal Government. The Company offers its manufactured housing insurance programs primarily through manufactured housing lenders and retailers, along with independent specialty agents. The independent specialty agents distribute flood products and miscellaneous specialty property products. Multi-family housing products are distributed primarily through property management companies and affinity marketing partners. Its lender-placed homeowners insurance program and certain of its manufactured home products are not underwritten on an individual policy basis.
Assurant Health
Assurant Health offers medical insurance and short-term medical insurance to individuals and families in the medical insurance market. Its products are offered with different plan options. Assurant Health also offers medical insurance to small employer groups. The Company�� medical insurance products are sold to individuals, primarily between the ages of 18 and 64, and their families, who do not have employer-sponsored coverage. It offers a variety of benefit plans at different price points. The Company�� group medical insurance is primarily sold to small companies with 2 to 50 employees, although larger employer coverage is available. The Company�� health insurance products are principally marketed through a network of independent agents. It also markets through a variety of national account relationships ! and direc! t distribution channels. In addition, the Company markets its products through North Star Marketing, a wholly owned affiliate.
Assurant Employee Benefits
The Company offers group disability, dental, vision, life and supplemental worksite products, as well as individual dental products. The group products are offered with funding options ranging from fully employer-paid to fully employee-paid (voluntary). In addition, it reinsures disability and life products through its wholly owned subsidiary, Disability Reinsurance Management Services, Inc. (DRMS). Group disability insurance provides partial replacement of lost earnings for insured employees who become disabled, as defined by their plan provisions. The Company�� products include both short- and long-term disability coverage options. It also reinsures disability policies written by other carriers through its DRMS subsidiary.
Dental benefit plans provide funding for necessary or elective dental care. Customers may select a traditional indemnity arrangement, a preferred provider organization (PPO) arrangement, or a prepaid or managed care arrangement. Coverage is subject to deductibles, coinsurance and annual or lifetime maximums. In a prepaid plan, members must use participating dentists in order to receive benefits. Assurant Employee Benefits owns and operates Dental Health Alliance, L.L.C., a dental PPO network. The Company also has an agreement with Aetna that allows it to use Aetna�� Dental Access network. Fully insured vision coverage is offered through its agreement with Vision Service Plan, Inc., a supplier of vision insurance. The Company�� plans cover eye exams, glasses and contact lenses, and are sold in combination with one or more of its other products.
Group term life insurance provided through the workplace provides benefits in the event of death. The Company also provides accidental death and dismemberment (AD&D) insurance. Insurance consists primarily of renewable term life insu! rance wit! h the amount of coverage provided being either a flat amount, a multiple of the employee�� earnings, or a combination of the two. It also reinsures life policies written by other carriers through DRMS. In addition, the Company provides group critical illness, cancer, accident, and gap insurance. These products are paid for by the employee through payroll deduction, and the employee is enrolled in the coverage(s) at the worksite. Its products and services are distributed through a group sales force located in 34 offices near metropolitan areas.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Whitney Kisling]
Assurant (AIZ), the insurer of foreclosed homes, has climbed 72 percent in 2013, extending the rally since the bull market started to 245 percent. Per-share profit the last two quarters exceeded analyst projections. Earnings growth at the New York-based company will slow to 1 percent next year and 5 percent in 2015, when sales contract, according to estimates compiled by Bloomberg.
- [By Rich Duprey]
Specialized insurance products provider�Assurant (NYSE: AIZ ) announced yesterday its third-quarter dividend of $0.25 per share, the same rate it paid last quarter after raising the payout 19%, from $0.21 per share.
Top 10 Regional Bank Stocks To Invest In 2014: Hawkins Inc. (HWKN)
Hawkins, Inc. distributes bulk chemicals, as well as blends, manufactures, and distributes specialty chemicals. The company operates through two segments, Industrial and Water Treatment. The Industrial segment provides industrial chemicals, products, and services primarily to the agriculture, energy, electronics, food, chemical processing, pulp and paper, pharmaceutical, medical device, and plating industries. This segment primarily offers acids, alkalis, and industrial and food-grade salts; and receives, stores, and distributes various chemicals, including liquid caustic soda, sulfuric acid, hydrochloric acid, phosphoric acid, potassium hydroxide, and aqua ammonia. In addition, it manufactures sodium hypochlorite, agricultural products, and certain food-grade products comprising Cheese-Phos liquid phosphate, lactates, and other blended products; repackages water treatment and bulk industrial chemicals; and performs custom blending of certain chemicals, and contract and pr ivate label packaging for household chemicals. This segment primarily conducts its operations through distribution centers and terminal operations. The Water Treatment segment provides chemicals, equipment, and solutions for potable water, municipal and industrial wastewater, industrial process water, and non-residential swimming pool water. Hawkins, Inc. was founded in 1938 and is based in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Seth Jayson]
Hawkins (Nasdaq: HWKN ) reported earnings on May 29. Here are the numbers you need to know.
The 10-second takeaway
For the quarter ended March 31 (Q4), Hawkins met expectations on revenues and beat expectations on earnings per share.
Top 10 Regional Bank Stocks To Invest In 2014: MutualFirst Financial Inc.(MFSF)
MutualFirst Financial, Inc. operates as a holding company for MutualBank that provides financial products services to individuals and businesses. It accepts various savings deposit accounts, NOW and demand accounts, and certificates of deposit. The company also provides one- to four-family residential mortgage loans, multi-family and commercial real estate loans, construction and development loans, commercial business loans, and consumer loans, including home equity and lines of credit, home improvement, auto, boat, and recreational vehicle loans, as well as loans secured by savings deposits, and credit card and unsecured loans. In addition, it operates as an insurance agent and sells life insurance, and credit-life and health insurance products. Further, the company provides investment money management and trust services. It operates 33 full service financial centers located in Delaware, Elkhart, Grant, Kosciusko, Randolph, St. Joseph, and Wabash counties, Indiana. The co mpany was founded in 1889 and is headquartered in Muncie, Indiana.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Tim Melvin]
MutualFirst Financial (MFSF) makes the list, trading at 80% of book value and yielding 1.61%. The bank has total assets of about $1.4 billion and is located in Muncie, Ind. Like a lot of small banks today, the story here is one of steady credit improvement and compressed net interest margins. It is one of many smaller institutions that I think will eventually be taken over; the current regulatory climate simply does not favor little banks. Insiders own about 10% of the stock, so they are invested in the idea of a much higher stock price.
- [By Tim Melvin]
PL Capital has not filed any 13Ds in a couple of months, but earlier this year it disclosed a 5.99% position in shares of First Advantage Bancorp (FABK). The Clarksville, Tenn.-based bank has seven branches and trades at about 75% of book value. PL Capital also filed a 13D announcing 8% ownership of Mutual First Financial (MFSF) over the summer. The bank has 31 branches and is based in Muncie, Ind. — an area that has seen substantial consolidation in the past few years.
Top 10 Regional Bank Stocks To Invest In 2014: DENTSPLY International Inc.(XRAY)
DENTSPLY International Inc. designs, develops, manufactures, and markets dental consumable products, dental laboratory products, and dental specialty products worldwide. The company?s dental consumable products include dental sundries, such as dental anesthetics, prophylaxis pastes, dental sealants, impression materials, restorative materials, tooth whiteners, and topical fluoride; and small equipment, including high and low speed handpieces, intraoral curing light systems, dental diagnostic systems, and ultrasonic scalers and polishers used in dental offices for the treatment of patients. Its dental laboratory products comprise dental prosthetics, including artificial teeth, precious metal dental alloys, dental ceramics, and crown and bridge materials, as well as equipment, such as computer aided machining ceramic systems and porcelain furnaces used in the preparation of dental appliances by dental laboratories. The company?s dental specialty products consist of endodonti c instruments and materials, implants and related products, bone grafting materials, 3D digital implantology, and orthodontic appliances and accessories. Its customers include dentists, dental hygienists, dental assistants, dental laboratories, and dental schools. The company distributes its dental products directly to dental laboratories and dental professionals, as well as through distributors, dealers, and importers. DENTSPLY International Inc. was founded in 1983 and is headquartered in York, Pennsylvania.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Monica Gerson]
DENTSPLY International (NASDAQ: XRAY) shares touched a new 52-week high of $47.65. DENTSPLY's trailing-twelve-month ROE is 15.95%.
Sun Life Financial (NYSE: SLF) shares gained 2.47% to create a new 52-week high of $34.80 on Q3 results. Sun Life reported its Q3 operating net income from continuing operations of $422 million.
- [By Seth Jayson]
There's no foolproof way to know the future for DENTSPLY International (Nasdaq: XRAY ) or any other company. However, certain clues may help you see potential stumbles before they happen -- and before your stock craters as a result.
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