Wells Fargo Has Crush on California

Last up north is small-cap Bank of Marin Bancorp(BMRC Quote), which has a price-to-book of 1.9 and a market cap of $165 million.

On Oct. 18, the bank reported third-quarter earnings of $3.2 million, up 2.7% from the same period in 2006. Diluted earnings per share were 60 cents, up 9.1% from 55 cents a year ago.

Bank of Marin has 11 branches in Strawberry, Corte Madera, downtown San Rafael, Andersen Drive and Northgate in San Rafael, Ignacio, downtown Novato, Sausalito and three offices in Petaluma.

Wells Fargo (and perhaps others) may be looking very closely at regional banks -- and there is no better place than California. But this California girl may be a bit biased.

I would gather up a small basket since even without a takeover these banks are doing all right and, just like Downey Savings and Loan, have really been beaten up lately.

Please note that due to factors including low market capitalization and/or insufficient public float, we consider Bank of Marin Bancorp to be a small-cap stock. You should be aware that such stocks are subject to more risk than stocks of larger companies, including greater volatility, lower liquidity and less publicly available information, and that postings such as this one can have an effect on their stock prices.