People's United Stock Up After CEO Ousted
BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (
) -- Shares of
People's United Financial
(PBCT) - Get People's United Financial, Inc. Report
edged up Monday after the abrupt resignation of CEO Philip Sherringham.
The stock was rising 1.1% to $16.08 after the thrift holding company tapped Chief Administrative Officer Jack Barnes to serve as interim CEO while it conducts a search for a permanent replacement. Volume of 9.8 million shares was nearly double the issue's trailing three-month daily average of 5 million.
People's United Chairman George Carter said that new leadership was "necessary to take the company to the next level and realize its full potential" and that the board had been discussing a management change "for a few weeks." He also said that the board didn't consider a sale of the bank.
Barnes also said the company would continue to look for ways to deploy excess capital, pursuing acquisitions, including "opportunistic FDIC transactions."
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Emphasizing the bank's desire to maximize its return on the excess capital, Carter said the company was in position to do acquisitions "immediately."
Just last Thursday
TheStreet.com
commented on the company's excess capital, as part of our coverage of People's United's
.
People's United then acquired the failed Butler Bank of Lowell, Mass. on Friday.
--
Written by Philip van Doorn in Jupiter Fla.
Philip W. van Doorn joined TheStreet.com Ratings., Inc., in February 2007. He is the senior analyst responsible for assigning financial strength ratings to banks and savings and loan institutions. He also comments on industry and regulatory trends. Mr. van Doorn has fifteen years experience, having served as a loan operations officer at Riverside National Bank in Fort Pierce, Florida, 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.
