5 Bank Earnings Winners From Jefferies

First Republic Bank
Shares of First Republic Bank (FRC) of San Francisco closed at $33.27 Thursday, returning 9% year-to-date.

The shares trade for 1.8 times their reported March 31 tangible book value of $18.91, and for 12 times the consensus 2013 EPS estimate of $2.73. The consensus 2012 EPS estimate is $2.65.

The company on Wednesday initiated a 10-cent quarterly dividend, beginning in the third quarter of 2012.

First Republic Bank on Wednesday reported first-quarter net income of $91.8 million, or 67 cents a share, beating the consensus EPS estimate of 65 cents. In comparison, the bank earned $88.9 million, or 67 cents a share the previous quarter, and $90.7 million, or 68 cents a share, a year earlier.

Jefferies analyst Casey Haire rates First Republic Bank a "Hold," and on Wednesday reiterated his rating, while saying the first quarter was a "solid quarter overall with loan growth overcoming seasonal challenges (up 5%), NIM expansion (up 9bp), and capital return announcement ($0.10 quarterly dividend beginning 3Q12)."�

Haire estimates that First Republic will earn $2.80 a share this year, followed by 2013 EPS of $2.75.

Interested in more on First Republic Bank? See TheStreet Ratings' report card for this stock.

-- Written by Philip van Doorn in Jupiter, Fla.

To contact the writer, click here: Philip van Doorn.

To follow the writer on Twitter, go to http://twitter.com/PhilipvanDoorn.

Philip W. van Doorn is a member of TheStreet's banking and finance team, commenting on industry and regulatory trends. He previously served as the senior analyst for TheStreet.com Ratings, responsible for assigning financial strength ratings to banks and savings and loan institutions. Mr. van Doorn previously served as a loan operations officer at Riverside National Bank in Fort Pierce, Fla., and as a credit analyst at the Federal Home Loan Bank of New York, where he monitored banks in New York, New Jersey and Puerto Rico. Mr. van Doorn has additional experience in the mutual fund and computer software industries. He holds a bachelor of science in business administration from Long Island University.

« First ‹ Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6