Best Bank Companies To Own In Right Now

Many banks, particularly large institutions like Bank of America (NYSE: BAC  ) and Citigroup (NYSE: C  ) , have been on a cost-cutting binge�for the last year or so, and one casualty has been bank branches. Indeed, as banks work to segue customers into online and mobile banking, many locations have been deemed an unnecessary drain on company resources. In 2012 alone, all U.S. banks closed nearly 2,300 branches, while opening only half that number.

But, the reports of the death of branch banking have been greatly exaggerated, as it turns out. Bank branches are simply being reimagined, and new, more modern sites are being unveiled by B of A, Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC  ) , and JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM  ) even as clunky, older locations are shuttered.

New economic reality
It's true that over 2,000 branch closings is quite a bit for one year, but banks are realizing that it isn't cost effective to maintain locations in sparsely populated areas. As those branches are trimmed, new, more technology-dependent locations are springing up in larger urban areas.

10 Best Regional Bank Stocks For 2015: Julius Baer Gruppe AG (BAER)

Julius Baer Gruppe AG (the Group) is a Switzerland-based private banking group, with an exclusive focus on servicing and advising private clients and independent asset managers. The Group has a global presence with approximately 50 locations in more than 25 countries and jurisdictions. Julius Baer Gruppe AG was established through spin off from Julius Baer Holding AG�� businesses into two independent entities, namely the Company, together with its subsidiaries, comprising Bank Julius Baer & Co Ltd as its principal operating entity, and GAM Holding, together with its subsidiaries, comprising GAM and the Julius Baer-branded asset management business, which includes the private label funds business that formerly was part of Julius Baer Holding Ltd�� Bank Julius Baer segment. The Group diversifies its operations into geographical segments, including Switzerland, rest of Europe, Americas, and Asia and Other Countries. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Corinne Gretler]

  Julius Baer Group Ltd. (BAER) rallied 5.7 percent to 42.04 francs. Switzerland�� third-biggest wealth manager said increased client trading boosted margins as it integrated Merrill Lynch businesses acquired from Bank of America Corp. last year. The gross margin, which reflects how much the bank makes in revenue on managed client assets, rose to 102 basis points in the first half, from 98 basis points in the year-earlier period.

Best Bank Companies To Own In Right Now: Morgan Stanley(MS)

Morgan Stanley, a financial holding company, provides various financial products and services to corporations, governments, financial institutions, and individuals worldwide. It operates in three segments: Institutional Securities, Global Wealth Management Group, and Asset Management. The Institutional Securities segment offers financial advisory services on mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, joint ventures, corporate restructurings, recapitalizations, spin-offs, exchange offers, and leveraged buyouts and takeover defenses, as well as shareholder relations, capital raising, corporate lending, and investments. This segment also engages in sales, trading, financing, and market-making activities, including equity trading, commodities, and interest rates, credit, and currencies, as well as financing services, such as prime brokerage, consolidated clearance, settlement, custody, financing, and portfolio reporting services. The Global Wealth Management Group segment provide s brokerage and investment advisory services covering various investment alternatives comprising equities, options, futures, foreign currencies, precious metals, fixed income securities, mutual funds, structured products, alternative investments, unit investment trusts, managed futures, separately managed accounts, and mutual fund asset allocation programs; education savings programs, financial and wealth planning services, and annuity and insurance products; credit and other lending products; cash management services; retirement services; and trust and fiduciary services. The Asset Management segment offers products and services in equity, fixed income, and alternative investments, such as hedge funds, fund of funds, real estate, private equity, and infrastructure to institutional and retail clients through proprietary and third party distribution channels. This segment also involves in investment and merchant banking activities. The company was founded in 1935 and is headq uartered in New York.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By John Reeves]

  Regardless of terminology, saving Bear implied, according to Blinder, that Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS  ) , and Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS  ) would also be rescued, if necessary. Ultimately, Blinder thinks the decision to let Lehman fail in September 2008 was a colossal mistake that set in motion the worst events of the crisis.

• [By Eric Volkman]

  David Paul Morris/Bloomberg/Getty Images Amazon (AMZN), according to persistent rumors, is putting the finishing touches on a set-top box that will allows users to stream video content from a chosen device or devices to their TVs. If it's true, the company is coming fairly late to a stuffed segment. But grabbing market share -- and even making a buck on the device -- might not be its top motivation for wading into this fray. A Razor-and-Blades Strategy For the past few years -- ever since it launched its first Kindle -- Amazon has been willing to sacrifice making a profit on its tablets in order to push its digital content, a growing library of TV shows, feature films, video games and other material. It sells the current Kindle HD iterations at cost (starting at $139 for the standard HD, and going to $229 for the 7-inch-display HDX version and $379 for the 8.9-inch HDX). Since Kindles are packed with software that guides users to the retailer's offerings -- most compatibly, those TV shows and movies, which users can rent or buy, but also the company's online catalog of physical goods -- the business strategy is a variation on the classic razor-and-blades model. In other words, the company sells the razor (the Kindle) relatively cheaply, in the hopes of producing a long-tail revenue stream with the blades (the digital content). Amazon doesn't break out detailed numbers for revenue derived from Kindle user activity, so it's hard to gauge how effective the strategy has been. But the company is selling a lot of digital media. According to research conducted by investment bank Morgan Stanley (MS) last year, Amazon stood to take in around $3.8 billion worth of digital media sales in 2013. The bank predicts that this will surge to a projected $5.7 billion this year. The latter figure is around 6 percent of total anticipated net sales for the entirety of 2014. Tablet Sales are Tumbling Putting a damper on that happy growth story is development of the overall ta

• [By Sue Chang and Ben Eisen]

  Morgan Stanley (MS) shares were up 4.4% after the investment bank reported its fourth-quarter earnings, which showed strong performance in wealth management, though it was offset by weaker fixed-income trading results. The company�� fourth-quarter profit sank 70%. Despite this, an adjusted per-share profit of 50 cents beat consensus expectations of 45 cents, according to a Thomson Reuters poll of analysts.

• [By MONEYMORNING.COM]

  But unfortunately for investors right now, electric vehicle demand has not reached the point many analysts thought it might.
  
  "Tesla aside, the auto industry's push into [electric vehicles] has fallen far short of expectations," Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) Analyst Adam Jonas said in a report this May. "Just a few years ago, forecasts for global [electric vehicle] penetration were as high as 5% or 10% by 2020. From today's perspective, we think penetration in the 1% range would be respectable."

Best Bank Companies To Own In Right Now: Chemung Financial Corp (CHMG)

Chemung Financial Corporation, incorporated on January 2, 1985, is a financial holding company. The Company was organized for the purpose of acquiring Chemung Canal Trust Company (the Bank). The Company provides a range of financial services, such as insurance products, mutual funds, and brokerage services. The subsidiaries of the Company include Chemung Canal trust Company and CFS Group, Inc. CFS Group, Inc. offers a range of financial services including mutual funds, full and discount brokerage services, annuity and other insurance products and tax preparation services. Chemung Canal Trust Company is a full-service community bank with full trust powers. The Company manages its operations through two primary business segments: core banking and wealth management group services. The core banking segment provides revenues by attracting deposits from the general public and using such funds to originate consumer, commercial, commercial real estate, and residential mortgage loans, primarily in the Company�� local markets and to invest in securities. The wealth management group services segment provides revenues by providing trust and investment advisory services to clients.

The Bank is a New York chartered commercial bank, which engages in full-service commercial and consumer banking and trust business. The Bank's services include accepting time, demand and savings deposits, including negotiable order of withdrawal (NOW) accounts, savings accounts, insured money market accounts, investment certificates, fixed-rate certificates of deposit and club accounts. The Bank's services also include making secured and unsecured commercial and consumer loans, financing commercial transactions (either directly or participating with regional industrial development and community lending corporations), and making commercial, residential and home equity mortgage loans, revolving credit loans with overdraft checking protection and small business loans. Additional services include renting safe deposit faciliti! es and the provision of networked automated teller facilities and an Internet banking product featuring bill payment services. Wealth management services provided by the Bank include services as executor and trustee under wills and agreements, and guardian, custodian, trustee and agent for pension, profit-sharing and other employee benefit trusts, as well as various investment, pension, estate planning and employee benefit administrative services.

Lending Activities

At December 31, 2011, 22.5% of the Corporation�� loans consist of commercial real estate loans to borrowers in the real estate, rental or leasing sector. The major portion of this sector comprises borrowers that rent, lease or otherwise allow the use of their own assets by others. The Bank�� loan portfolio includes commercial, financial and agricultural loans, commercial mortgages, residential mortgages, indirect consumer loans, and consumer loans. As of December 31, 2011, the total loan portfolio of the Bank was at $796,915,000.

Investment Activities

The Bank�� investment portfolio consists of obligations of the United States Government and the United States Government sponsored entities; mortgage-backed securities, residential; obligations of states and political subdivisions; corporate bonds and notes; SBA (small business administration ) loan pools; trust preferred securities, and corporate stocks. As of December 31, 2011, the investment portfolio of the Bank was at $289,182,000.

Sources of Funds

The Bank�� source of funds includes non-interest-bearing demand deposits, interest-bearing demand deposits, savings and insured money market deposits, and time deposits. As at December 31, 2011, the total deposits of the Bank was at $965,183,000.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Doug Hughes]

  Steve Halpern: Okay, today we��e going to walk through two specific investment ideas that you find attractive in the banking sector. The first is Chemung Financial (CHMG), a New York-based operation that happens to be one of the oldest banks in the country. Could you tell us a little more about that?

Best Bank Companies To Own In Right Now: Capital Bank Financial Corp (CBF)

Capital Bank Financial Corp, formerly North American Financial Holdings, Inc., incorporated in 2009, is a bank holding Company. The Company focuses on creating a regional banking franchise in the southeastern region of the United States through organic growth and acquisitions of other banks. As of March 31, 2011, the Bank operated 82 branches in Florida, North Carolina and South Carolina. On July 16, 2010, the Bank acquired approximately $1.2 billion of assets and assumed approximately $960.1 million of deposits of three banks from the federal deposit insurance corporation (FDIC): First National Bank of the South in Spartanburg, South Carolina, Metro Bank of Dade County in Miami, Florida and Turnberry Bank in Aventura, Florida. On September 30, 2010 and January 28, 2011, the Bank consummated controlling investments in TIB Financial and Capital Bank Corp., respectively. The Bank�� products and services included commercial bank business, consumer bank business, Mortgage Banking, and Private Banking, Trust and Investment Management. In October 2012, it acquired Southern Community Financial Corp.

Lending activities

As of March 31, 2011, the Bank�� loans included: Real estate mortgage loans, Commercial and agricultural loans and Home equity loans. Real estate mortgage loans include: Commercial, Residential, and Construction and vacant land. As of March 31, 2011, covered loans were $656.6 million, representing 22.3% of its loan portfolio. As of March 31, 2011, non-covered loans were $2.3 billion, representing 77.6% of its loan portfolio. As of March 31, 2011, loans related to real estate totaled $2.6 billion (or 87% of the Bank�� total loan portfolio). At March 31, 2011, commercial real estate loans in all regions totaled $1.8 billion.

Investment activities

Investment securities represent a major portion of the Bank�� assets. As of March 31, 2011, the Bank�� investment securities included mortgage backed securities, United States government agen! cies, states and political subdivisions, corporate bonds, equity, collateralized debt obligations and foreign government. Of the securities in the portfolio, 94% were rated AAA, and 97% were rated A or higher.

Sources of Funds

As of March 31, 2011, the Bank�� deposits included Non-interest demand deposit accounts, Interest Bearing demand deposit accounts, Savings and Money Market. It also included Customer Time Deposits and Wholesale Time Deposits. At March 31, 2011, total deposits were $3.5 billion of which $3.4 billion (or 97%) were non-brokered deposits and $94.4 million (or 3%) were brokered deposits. At March 31, 2011, the Bank�� core deposits (which are all deposits other than time deposits) consisted of $463.2 million of non-interest checking, $430.7 million of negotiable order of withdrawal accounts, $157.5 million of savings accounts and $456.2 million of money market deposits.

The Bank competes with Bank of America, Wells Fargo, BB&T, First Citizens, Royal Bank of Canada, SunTrust, Regions, FNB United Corp., Toronto-Dominion, Synovus, First Financial, SCBT, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, EverBank, Fifth Third Bancorp, First Horizon, Pinnacle Financial, First South and U.S. Bancorp.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Tim Melvin]

  The year ahead should be a great one for the smaller bank stocks. Larger regionals like Huntington Bancorp (HBAN) and Capital Ban Financial (CBF) have made it clear they intend to grow by acquisition in the years ahead. Banks like First Merit (FMER) and First Merchants (FRME) have done deals in the past year and are open to doing more to increase their market share and footprints. This should be the year the floodgates open and we see the first wave of merger activity in small banks.

Best Bank Companies To Own In Right Now: Bank of Ireland (BKIR)

Bank of Ireland and its subsidiaries provide a range of banking and other financial services. The Company operates in five segments: Retail Ireland, Bank of Ireland Life, Retail UK, Corporate and Treasury and Group Centre. Group Centre includes capital management activities, unallocated Group support costs and the cost of the Credit Institutions. Retail Ireland distributes a range of financial products and services through the Bank�� branch operations in the Republic of Ireland and through its direct channels. The Company operates in the life and pensions market in Ireland through its wholly owned subsidiary New Ireland Assurance Company plc (NAIC).Retail UK consists of Business Banking in Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the branch network in Northern Ireland, the United Kingdom residential mortgage business and the business activities with the United Kingdom Post Office. Corporate and Treasury division consists of Corporate Banking, Global Markets and IBI Corporate Finance. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Sarah Jones]

  In Dublin, Bank of Ireland (BKIR) slipped 3.4 percent to 14.1 euro cents and Permanent TSB Group Holdings Plc (IPM) tumbled 13 percent to 2.6 cents. Allied Irish Banks Plc (ALBK), which is owned by the state, slid 1.5 percent to 6.5 cents.

Best Bank Companies To Own In Right Now: KS Bancorp Inc (KSBI)

KS Bancorp, Inc. serves as the holding company for KS Bank, Inc. (the Bank). The Bank is a community financial institution, which is locally owned and operated. The Bank offers a range of traditional deposit and loan products for consumers and businesses. The Bank offers a range of loans that include Personal Loans, Fixed Rate and Adjustable Rate Home Mortgage Loans, Consumer Loans, Reverse Mortgages, Home Construction Loans, Auto Loans, Boat Loans and Education Loans.

The Bank focuses on attracting retail deposits and using such deposits to make mortgage loans, construction loans, business loans, consumer loans and equity line loans. KS Bank conducts its operations through eight full service retail offices located in Johnston, Wake, Wilson, and Wayne counties in North Carolina.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By CRWE]

  Today, KSBI remains (0.00%) +0.000 at $7.50 thus far (ref. google finance 9:49AM EDT July 23, 2013).

  KS Bancorp, Inc. previously reported unaudited net income available to common shareholders of $200,000, or $.15 per diluted share, for the three months ended June 30, 2013, compared to a net income available to common shareholders of $86,000, or $.07 per diluted share, for the three months ended June 30, 2012. For the six months ended June 30, 2013, the Company reported net income available to common shareholders of $325,000, or $.25 per diluted share, compared to $314,000, or $.24 per diluted share, for the six months ended June 30, 2012

• [By CRWE]

  Last Friday, KSBI previously surged (+6.67%) up +0.50 at $8.00 with 235 shares in play at the close (ref. google finance July 26, 2013 ��Close).

  KS Bancorp, Inc. previously reported unaudited net income available to common shareholders of $200,000, or $.15 per diluted share, for the three months ended June 30, 2013, compared to a net income available to common shareholders of $86,000, or $.07 per diluted share, for the three months ended June 30, 2012. For the six months ended June 30, 2013, the Company reported net income available to common shareholders of $325,000, or $.25 per diluted share, compared to $314,000, or $.24 per diluted share, for the six months ended June 30, 2012

Best Bank Companies To Own In Right Now: First Bancorp (FBP)

First Bancorp is a bank holding company. The Company is a service provider of financial services and products with operations in Puerto Rico, the United States and the United States and British Virgin Islands. The Company has six segments: Consumer (Retail) Banking; Commercial and Corporate Banking; Mortgage Banking; Treasury and Investments; United States Operations, and Virgin Islands Operations. The Company specializes in commercial banking, residential mortgage loan originations, finance leases, personal loans, small loans, auto loans, insurance agency and broker-dealer activities. As of December 31, 2011, it controlled two wholly owned subsidiaries: FirstBank and FirstBank Insurance Agency, Inc. (FirstBank Insurance Agency). FirstBank is a Puerto Rico-chartered commercial bank and FirstBank Insurance Agency is a Puerto Rico-chartered insurance agency. On February 16, 2011, FirstBank sold an asset portfolio consisting of performing and non-performing construction, commercial mortgage and C&I loans. The Company�� total investment securities portfolio as of December 31, 2011 amounted to $2 billion. As of December 31, 2011, the Company had a total deposit of $9.9 billion. Effective May 31, 2011, the Company purchased FirstBank-branded consumer credit card portfolio from FIA Card Services, N.A. and an affiliate.

Consumer (Retail) Banking

The Consumer (Retail) Banking segment consists of the Company�� consumer lending and deposit-taking activities conducted mainly through FirstBank�� branch network and loan centers in Puerto Rico. Loans to consumers include auto, boat and personal loans and lines of credit. Deposit products include interest bearing and non-interest bearing checking and savings accounts, Individual Retirement Accounts (IRA) and retail certificates of deposit. Retail deposits gathered through each branch of FirstBank�� retail network serve as one of the funding sources for the lending and investment activities. Credit card accounts are issued under Firs! tBank�� name through an alliance with a financial institution, which bears the credit risk.

Commercial and Corporate Banking

The Commercial and Corporate Banking segment consists of the Company�� lending and other services across a spectrum of industries ranging from small businesses to large corporate clients. FirstBank has developed expertise in industries, including healthcare, tourism, financial institutions, food and beverage, income-producing real estate and the public sector. The Commercial and Corporate Banking segment offers commercial loans, including commercial real estate and construction loans, and other products, such as cash management and business management services. A substantial portion of this portfolio is secured by the underlying value of the real estate collateral and the personal guarantees of the borrowers. The segment also includes the Company�� broker-dealer activities, which are primarily concentrated in bonds underwriting and financial advisory services provided to government entities in Puerto Rico.

Mortgage Banking

The Mortgage Banking segment conducts its operations mainly through FirstBank and its mortgage origination subsidiary, First Mortgage. These operations consist of the origination, sale and servicing of a variety of residential mortgage loan products. Originations are sourced through different channels, such as FirstBank branches, mortgage bankers and in association with new project developers. First Mortgage focuses on originating residential real estate loans, some of which conform to Federal Housing Administration (FHA), Veterans Administration (VA) and Rural Development (RD) standards. The Mortgage Banking segment also acquires and sells mortgages in the secondary markets. Most of the Company�� residential mortgage loan portfolio consists of fixed-rate, fully amortizing, full documentation loans.

Treasury and Investments

The Treasury and Investments segment is responsib! le for th! e Corporation�� treasury and investment management functions. The treasury function, which includes funding and liquidity management, sells funds to the Commercial and Corporate Banking segment, the Mortgage Banking segment, and the Consumer (Retail) Banking segment to finance their respective lending activities and purchases funds gathered by those segments and from the United States Operations segment. Funds not gathered by the different business units are obtained by the Treasury Division through wholesale channels, such as brokered deposits, advances from the FHLB and, repurchase agreements with investment securities, among others.

United States Operations

The United States Operations segment consists of all banking activities conducted by FirstBank in the United States mainland. FirstBank provides a range of banking services to individual and corporate customers primarily in southern Florida through its ten branches. The United States Operations segment offers an array of both retail and commercial banking products and services. Consumer banking products include checking, savings and money market accounts, retail certificates of deposit (CDs), Internet banking services, residential mortgages, home equity loans and lines of credit, automobile loans and credit cards through an alliance with a nationally recognized financial institution, which bears the credit risk. Deposits gathered through FirstBank�� branches in the United States also serve as a funding sources for lending and investment activities in Puerto Rico. The commercial banking services include checking, savings and money market accounts, CDs, Internet banking services, cash management services, remote data capture and automated clearing house (ACH), transactions. Loan products include the traditional commercial and industrial and commercial real estate products, such as lines of credit, term loans and construction loans.

Virgin Islands Operations

The Virgin Islands Operations seg! ment cons! ists of all banking activities conducted by FirstBank in the United States and British Virgin Islands, including retail and commercial banking services, with a total of fourteen branches serving the United States Virgin Islands of St. Thomas, St. Croix, and St. John, and the British Virgin Islands of Tortola and Virgin Gorda. The Virgin Islands Operations segment is driven by its consumer, commercial lending and deposit-taking activities.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Paul Ausick]

  First Bancorp (NYSE: FBP) is another Puerto Rican bank that gets the nod. The bank�� asset divestitures are behind it and, like M&T, it is fundamentally sound. Sterne Agee�� price target on the stock is $11.00, and the stock closed on Friday at $5.81 in a 52-week range of $4.27 to $8.70. The potential upside for this small cap bank is nearly 90%. The bank�� forward multiple according to the analysts is 10.8 and the consensus forward P/E from Thomson Reuters is 11.17. Sterne Agee�� EPS estimate for 2014 is $0.52.

• [By CRWE]

  First BanCorp (NYSE:FBP), the bank holding company for FirstBank Puerto Rico, expects to report its financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2012, after the market closes on Wednesday, October 31, 2012.