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Thursday, January 1, 2009

svc inc: Small-Cap Financial Shares Defy Market, Lead Rising U.S. Stocks

By Don Jeffrey

Jan. 1 (Bloomberg) -- In the worst year ever for financial companies, small-cap firms like First BanCorp, First Financial Bankshares Inc. and Tompkins Financial Corp. gave investors some of the best returns of 2008.

As Citigroup Inc. plunged 77 percent and Washington Mutual Inc. collapsed in a credit crisis that started with the meltdown of the subprime mortgage market, 31 financial industry stocks in Standard & Poor’s Smallcap 600 Index rose in value.

“It was surprising to me,” Howard Silverblatt, a New York-based S&P analyst, said in an interview Dec. 30. “But these are more regional financials, and their portfolios were not tainted as much by residential real estate.”

In all, 95 companies in the S&P Smallcap 600 rose last year, compared with 25 in the S&P 500 Index, which tracks the largest U.S. companies. Almost a third of the small-cap gainers were financial stocks. Of the big-company winners, three were in the financial industry, including real-estate investment trust Public Storage.

Larger financial companies reeled from the worst credit- related losses since the Great Depression. Bank of America Corp., the largest U.S. consumer bank, saw third-quarter profit fall 68 percent and its stock plunge 66 percent for the year. Wachovia Corp., which agreed to be acquired by Wells Fargo & Co., lost $23.9 billion on real-estate writedowns in the third quarter and suffered an 85 percent drop in its stock price.

Shares Rise

First BanCorp, the holding company for FirstBank Puerto Rico, rose 53 percent. The Santurce, Puerto Rico-based company, which won preliminary approval last month to participate in the U.S. government’s Troubled Asset Relief Program, said third- quarter profit increased 74 percent to $24.5 million. Analysts project fourth-quarter earnings will more than triple from a year earlier. Chief Executive Officer Luis Beauchamp said in a Dec. 19 interview that he may acquire some “weak” competitors.

First Financial Bankshares, the Abilene, Texas-based owner of banks in North Central and West Texas, gained 47 percent. Tompkins Financial, up 49 percent for the year, is the Ithaca, New York-based holding company for banking, insurance and financial planning services in upstate New York. Analysts predict First Financial’s 2009 per-share earnings will grow 2 percent and Tompkins’ will increase 4 percent.

The gains contrast with a report by KBW Inc., the investment bank formerly known as Keefe, Bruyette & Woods that specializes in financial-services companies, predicting 2009 will be “another challenging year for bank stocks as we believe the U.S. economy is in the midst of the longest and deepest recession since World War II.”

The S&P 500, which includes companies such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and McDonald’s Corp., plunged 38 percent for the year. The Smallcap 600 lost 32 percent.

Standard & Poor’s requirement for a company to be added to the Smallcap 600 Index is a market capitalization of $200 million to $1 billion, Silverblatt said.

S&P 500 and Smallcap 600 Stocks With Gains in 2008

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Company Ticker Pct Gain IndexIndustry
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Rohm & Haas ROH 16 S&P500 Basic Material
UST Inc. UST 27 S&P500Consumer Goods
Hasbro Inc. HAS 14 S&P500 Consumer Goods
General Mills GIS 6.6 S&P500Consumer Goods
Pulte Homes PHM 3.7 S&P500 Consumer Goods
Family Dollar Str FDO 36 S&P500 Consumer Svcs
H&R Block HRB 22 S&P500 Consumer Svcs
Wal-Mart Stores WMT 18 S&P500 Consumer Svcs
AutoZone Inc. AZO 16 S&P500 Consumer Svcs
Apollo Group ‘A’ APOL 9.2 S&P500 Consumer Svcs
McDonald’s Corp. MCD 5.6 S&P500Consumer Svcs
Darden Rest DRI 1.7 S&P500 Consumer Svcs
Public Storage PSA 8.3 S&P500 Financials
Hudson City Bncp HCBK 6.3 S&P500 Financials
People’s United PBCT 0.2 S&P500Financials
Amgen Inc. AMGN 24 S&P500Health Care
Celgene Corp. CELG 20 S&P500 Health Care
Gilead Sciences GILD 11 S&P500 Health Care
Cephalon Inc. CEPH 7.4 S&P500 Health Care
King Pharmaceutical KG 3.7 S&P500 Health Care
Sherwin-Williams SHW 2.9 S&P500 Industrials
Affil Computer ‘A’ ACS 1.9 S&P500 Industrials
CH Robinson CHRW 1.7 S&P500Industrials
Waste Management WMI 1.4 S&P500Industrials
Southwestern Energy SWN 4 S&P500Oil & Gas

Stepan Co. SCL 47 SCI600Basic Material
Zep Inc. ZEP 41 SCI600 Basic Material
Wausau Paper WPP 32 SCI600 Basic Material
Tredegar Corp. TG 14 SCI600Basic Material
Balchem Corp. BCPC 12 SCI600 Basic Material
National Presto NPK 49 SCI600 Consumer Goods
TreeHouse Foods THS 18 SCI600 Consumer Goods
Cal-Maine Foods CALM 13 SCI600Consumer Goods
J&J Snack Foods JJSF 16 SCI600 Consumer Goods
Lance Inc. LNCE 16 SCI600 Consumer Goods
Central Garden ‘A’ CENTA 10 SCI600 Consumer Goods
Martek Bioscience MATK 2.5 SCI600 Consumer Goods
Sanderson Farms SAFM 3.8 SCI600Consumer Goods
Finish Line ‘A’ FINL 134 SCI600Consumer Svcs
Hot Topic Inc. HOTT 59 SCI600 Consumer Svcs
PetMed Express PETS 46 SCI600 Consumer Svcs
Panera Bread ‘A’ PNRA 46 SCI600 Consumer Svcs
Aaron Rents RNT 39 SCI600 Consumer Svcs
Nash Finch Co. NAFC 30 SCI600 Consumer Svcs
Haverty Furn HVT 5.8 SCI600 Consumer Svcs
Fred’s Inc. ‘A’ FRED 13 SCI600Consumer Svcs
Jo-Ann Stores JAS 18 SCI600 Consumer Svcs
Buffalo Wild Win BWLD 10 SCI600 Consumer Svcs
Marcus Corp. MCS 7.5 SCI600 Consumer Svcs
Spartan Stores SPTN 2.7 SCI600 Consumer Svcs
First Bancorp FBP 57 SCI600Financials
Tompkins Financial TMP 54 SCI600 Financials
SWS Group SWS 53 SCI600 Financials
First Fin Bankshare FFIN 51 SCI600 Financials
Home Bancshares HOMB 40 SCI600 Financials
S&T Bancorp STBA 33 SCI600 Financials
Stifel Financial SF 31 SCI600 Financials
Infinity Property IPCC 31 SCI600 Financials
First Cash Fin Svc FCFS 30 SCI600 Financials
UMB Financial UMBF 30 SCI600 Financials
Old Natl Ban (Ind.) ONB 28 SCI600 Financials
Community Bank CBU 27 SCI600 Financials
United Bankshares UBSI 24 SCI600 Financials
First Commonwealth FCF 23 SCI600 Financials
Hancock Holding HBHC 22 SCI600Financials
Wilshire Bancorp WIBC 18 SCI600Financials
First Fin Bancrp FFBC 15 SCI600 Financials
Bank Mutual BKMU 13 SCI600Financials
RLI Corp. RLI 9.6 SCI600Financials
Urstadt Biddle ‘A’ UBA 9 SCI600 Financials
United Fire & Cas UFCS 9 SCI600Financials
Sterling Bancorp STL 8.5 SCI600Financials
Safety Insurance SAFT 8.4 SCI600 Financials
Brookline Bancrp BRKL 8.4 SCI600 Financials
Dime Community DCOM 7.9 SCI600Financials
Greenhill & Co. GHL 7.9 SCI600Financials
Financial Federal FIF 7.3 SCI600Financials
Glacier Bancorp GBCI 4.3 SCI600Financials
Tanger Factory SKT 4 SCI600Financials
Trustco Bank NY TRST 0.7 SCI600 Financials
National Penn Ban NPBC 0.2 SCI600Financials
ViroPharma Inc. VPHM 64 SCI600 Health Care
Gentiva Health Svc GTIV 54 SCI600 Health Care
Datascope Corp. DSCP 45 SCI600 Health Care
LHC Group LHCG 44 SCI600 Health Care
Merit Medical MMSI 29 SCI600 Health Care
Cyberonics CYBX 26 SCI600 Health Care
Cryolife CRY 22 SCI600 Health Care
Cubist Pharma CBST 18 SCI600 Health Care
Pharmerica Corp. PMC 13 SCI600 Health Care
Salix Pharm SLXP 12 SCI600 Health Care
Healthspring Inc. HS 4.8 SCI600 Health Care
Axsys Tech AXYS 50 SCI600Industrials
Landauer Inc. LDR 46 SCI600Industrials
Arkansas Best ABFS 40 SCI600Industrials
Applied Signal APSG 37 SCI600 Industrials
Rock-Tenn Co. ‘A’ RKT 36 SCI600Industrials
Insituform Tech ‘A’ INSU 33 SCI600 Industrials
Greatbatch GB 32 SCI600 Industrials
World Fuel Svcs INT 28 SCI600 Industrials
Old Dominion Frght ODFL 23 SCI600 Industrials
Standex Intl SXI 18 SCI600 Industrials
Heartland Express HTLD 12 SCI600 Industrials
Tetra Tech TTEK 12 SCI600 Industrials
Knight Transport KNX 9.8 SCI600Industrials
Watscom Inc. WSO 9.2 SCI600Industrials
Simpson Mfg SSD 6.1 SCI600 Industrials
Sykes Enterprises SYKE 6.2 SCI600 Industrials
Watson Wyatt ‘A’ WW 3.6 SCI600 Industrials
Universal Techni UTI 1 SCI600 Industrials
Quality Systems QSII 47 SCI600 Technology
CSG Systems Intl CSGS 19 SCI600 Technology
Tekelec TKLC 6.7 SCI600Technology
Ultratech UTEK 5.5 SCI600 Technology
Integral Systems ISYS 3.6 SCI600 Technology
Laclede Group LG 42 SCI600Utilities
Piedmont Natrl Gas PNY 26 SCI600Utilities
CH Energy Group CHG 22 SCI600Utilities
New Jersey Resource NJR 22 SCI600 Utilities
South Jersey Indus SJI 14 SCI600Utilities
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