Seemed to me this should be on IHUB. I didn't notice the moderator box check-out until the deed was done, alas.
From today's web:
4 Financials Flex Their Muscles
Posted: Feb 18, 2010 10:39 AM by Aryeh Katz
There are a great many stocks that have been showing strength lately despite the general market's weakness. Some have even done double duty, offering value investors solid fundamentals to back up their performance.
Here is a handful exclusively from the financial sector.
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NASB Financial (Nasdaq:NASB) is a retail savings bank that operates in Missouri and Kansas. The company has a market cap of $160 million, trades with a P/E of 8.61 and offers investors a nice dividend yield of 4.39%. Since bottoming last March, the stock has gained nearly 65%, slightly outperforming the SPDR KBW Regional Banking ETF (NYSE:KRE), which turned in only 58% over the same period.
NASB recorded earnings per share (EPS) growth of 101% over the last year and trades at slightly less than book value; P/B is 0.97.
Consistent Long-Term Revenue Growth
Gladstone Capital Corporation (Nasdaq:GLAD) is another financial with outstanding valuations and a record of strong performance over the past year. The shares tacked on better than 70% since setting 52-week lows last March; they pay an annual yield of 9.13% and trade with a one-year trailing multiple of 10 times last year's earnings. Gladstone has also grown revenues at a rate of 15.88% per year for the last five years.
Gladstone is a closed-end investment fund that aims to achieve a high rate of current income by investing in debt securities. Price to book on GLAD shares is a measly 0.77.
Fifth Street Finance Corp (NYSE:FSC) stock offers investors a 10.8% yield and a competitive 12.55 price/earnings ratio. Price-to-book on the shares is 1.03, and that's after a rise of better than 60% in the share price over the last 12 months.
Fifth Street operates as an investment fund, taking equity and debt positions in small- to mid-sized companies. The company's stock is owned primarily by institutions, which make up more than 50% of its investors.
Fortress Investing
Fort Dearborn Income Securities, Inc. (NYSE:FDI) is another closed-end fund whose portfolio consists mostly of long-term, investment grade debt securities. FDI pays a healthy 5.48% dividend and trades with a very low earnings multiple of 4.28. The stock trades at a discount to breakup value, with a price/book ratio of just 0.88.
The Wrap
A little sleuthing in the financial sector reveals some companies with big prospects. The stocks above offer very competitive fundamentals and have outperformed both the broad market and financial sector since the March 2009 lows.
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