6 Banks Actually Growing Their Banking Business

1. Brookline Bancorp

Shares of Brookline Bancorp (BRKL) of Brookline, Mass., closed at $9.02 Tuesday, returning 8% year-to-date, following last year's 19% decline.

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Brookline Bancorp reported first-quarter net interest income of $43.6 million, increasing 49% from the previous quarter and 70% year-over-year, reflecting the company's Jan. 1 acquisition of Bank Rhode Island. The first-quarter net interest margin was 4.62%, according to HighlineFI, increasing from 3.99% in the fourth quarter, and 3.74% in the first quarter of 2011.

The company itself said on April 25 that its first-quarter net interest margin "should have been reported a 3.87%," although its first-quarter interest income and expenses were reported correctly on April 19. In comparison, Brookline reported a net interest margin of 3.80% in the fourth quarter, and 3.74% in the first quarter of 2011.

First-quarter net income was $6.3 million, or nine cents a share, declining from $7.1 million, or 12 cents a share, the previous quarter, and $7.3 million, or 12 cents a share, a year earlier. The first-quarter results included $4.0 million in after-tax expenses associated with the acquisition of Bank Rhode Island.

With the Bank Rhode Island acquisition, Brookline's total assets grew by nearly 50% during the first quarter, to $4.9 billion as of March 31.

The shares trade for 1.5 times tangible book value, according to HighlineFI, and for 12 times the consensus 2013 EPS estimate of 74 cents. The consensus 2012 EPS estimate is 70 cents.

KBW analyst Damon DelMonte rates Brookline Bancorp "Market Perform," with a $9.00 price target, and said on April 18 that "Despite the shortfall to expectations, we are not overly concerned as we figured there are some timing issues related to the expected accretion from the [merger] deal."

Interested in more on Brookline Bancorp? See TheStreet Ratings' report card for this stock.

>>To see these stocks in action, visit the 6 Banks Actually Growing Their Banking Business portfolio on Stockpickr.

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

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

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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.

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