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Up date... which is long overdue..Don't ask me why it took so long to post this... I don't know. And I have mentioned this stock on other boards so go figure. All of the following were very modest purchases in a process of building up a position in this bank. I do like the recent merger with Sterling Financial Corp which really expanded the bank's footprint. The current sixty cent dividend ... yielding 3.1% at today's current price... is a tad over 5% yield on my average cost. Bought in 2010 @ $11.25 2011 $10.64 to $11.89 2012 $12.30 2013 $12.48 to $15.12 2014 $16.44 stock is near a high today at $19,50 +... even so, the string of mergers has changed Umpqua Holdings Corp. and so you cannot really compare today's bank with yesterday's. The geographical area has changed along with the industrial base. So I think ... even as the stock is just under $20 a share .... that the stock's potential is under valued at this price ... also the dividend is expected to raise higher with this new merger shows up on the top and bottom line. Most of the hype about raising rates helping the banking sector has been focused on the big international banks that have huge amounts of stockshares to trade daily... mutual and hedge funds delight. But the small local - regional banks with modest daily trading volumes have only gotten a tiny part of the action. Last point.... with the Sterling merger this has made UMPQ the largest regional bank in its trading area. That is a two edge sword but for the next year or so it should boost the dividends and stock price up. P/E ratio is higher than normal reflecting this rosy outlook. FITB, GBCI, BHB, RF, HBAN, BBVA are also on my regional watch list. Might want more but (1) my piggy bank has a limit to how many times it can be robbed. (2) I also own some large banks so I do not want to get overwieghted in this sector. ***PinewoodsBear*** |
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