First PacTrust Bancorp Inc. Stock Downgraded (BANC)

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- First PacTrust Bancorp (Nasdaq:BANC) has been downgraded by TheStreet Ratings from buy to hold. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its expanding profit margins and notable return on equity. However, as a counter to these strengths, we find that the growth in the company's net income has been quite unimpressive.

Highlights from the ratings report include:

• The gross profit margin for FIRST PACTRUST BANCORP is currently very high, coming in at 80.00%. It has increased from the same quarter the previous year. Regardless of the strong results of the gross profit margin, the net profit margin of 6.00% trails the industry average.
• FIRST PACTRUST BANCORP has exprienced a steep decline in earnings per share in the most recent quarter in comparison to its performance from the same quarter a year ago. This company has reported somewhat volatile earnings recently. But, we feel it is poised for EPS growth in the coming year. During the past fiscal year, FIRST PACTRUST BANCORP turned its bottom line around by earning $0.31 versus -$0.48 in the prior year. This year, the market expects an improvement in earnings ($0.47 versus $0.31).
• Despite the weak revenue results, BANC has outperformed against the industry average of 18.2%. Since the same quarter one year prior, revenues slightly dropped by 2.8%. Weakness in the company's revenue seems to have hurt the bottom line, decreasing earnings per share.
• After a year of stock price fluctuations, the net result is that BANC's price has not changed very much. Although its weak earnings growth may have played a role in this flat result, don't lose sight of the fact that the performance of the overall market, as measured by the S&P 500 Index, was essentially similar. The fact that the stock is now selling for less than others in its industry in relation to its current earnings is not reason enough to justify a buy rating at this time.
• The company, on the basis of change in net income from the same quarter one year ago, has significantly underperformed when compared to that of the S&P 500 and the Thrifts & Mortgage Finance industry. The net income has significantly decreased by 78.8% when compared to the same quarter one year ago, falling from $3.03 million to $0.64 million.

First Pactrust Bancorp, Inc. operates as a holding company for Pacific Trust Bank that provides retail banking services primarily in San Diego and Riverside Counties, California. The company has a P/E ratio of 10, equal to the average banking industry P/E ratio and below the S&P 500 P/E ratio of 17.7. First PacTrust has a market cap of $127.6 million and is part of the financial sector and banking industry. Shares are down 14.6% year to date as of the close of trading on Friday.

You can view the full First PacTrust Ratings Report or get investment ideas from our investment research center.

 

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• First PacTrust Bancorp Inc. Stock Price

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• First PacTrust Bancorp Inc. Key Stats & Profile

• First PacTrust Bancorp Inc. Earnings

• First PacTrust Bancorp Inc. Ratio Comparison

• First PacTrust Bancorp Inc. Growth Rates

• First PacTrust Bancorp Inc. Balance Sheet

• First PacTrust Bancorp Inc. Cash Flow

• First PacTrust Bancorp Inc. Income Statement