Zacks Investment Research upgraded shares of Sterling Bancorp (NYSE:STL) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning, Zacks.com reports.
According to Zacks, “Sterling Bancorp is the holding company for Sterling National Bank, a financial services firm. Sterling National Bank provides various banking and financial products and services primarily in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. It provides depository and cash management services and a broad portfolio of financing solutions-including working capital lines, accounts receivable and inventory financing, factoring, trade financing, payroll funding and processing, equipment financing, commercial and residential mortgages and mortgage warehouse lines of credit. Sterling Bancorp, formerly known as Provident New York Bancorp, is headquartered in New York. “
A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on STL. ValuEngine raised Sterling Bancorp from a strong sell rating to a sell rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Maxim Group set a $28.00 target price on Sterling Bancorp and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Stephens reaffirmed a buy rating and set a $24.50 price target on shares of Sterling Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, B. Riley reaffirmed a buy rating and set a $26.00 price target on shares of Sterling Bancorp in a report on Friday, December 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. The company presently has an average rating of Buy and a consensus price target of $25.36.
Sterling Bancorp (NYSE:STL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by ($0.02). Sterling Bancorp had a return on equity of 10.12% and a net margin of 32.25%. The company had revenue of $259.76 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $262.65 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.51 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Sterling Bancorp will post 2.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
In other news, insider Brian T. Edwards sold 4,660 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.16, for a total transaction of $98,605.60. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 82,396 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,743,499.36. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.67% of the company’s stock.
Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in STL. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Sterling Bancorp by 93.7% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,696,732 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $78,666,000 after purchasing an additional 1,787,787 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Sterling Bancorp by 81,198.3% during the first quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,713,769 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,928,000 after purchasing an additional 1,711,661 shares in the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Sterling Bancorp by 25.7% during the third quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,365,507 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $107,632,000 after purchasing an additional 1,097,895 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Sterling Bancorp by 66.6% during the second quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,047,787 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $22,297,000 after purchasing an additional 418,948 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Sterling Bancorp by 1,356.0% during the second quarter. Balyasny Asset Management LLC now owns 253,515 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,395,000 after purchasing an additional 236,103 shares in the last quarter. 84.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Sterling Bancorp Company Profile
Sterling Bancorp operates as the bank holding company for Sterling National Bank that provides various banking products and services to commercial, consumer, and municipal clients in the United States. The company accepts deposit products, including checking, savings, money market, time, and interest and non-interest bearing demand deposits, as well as certificates of deposit and mortgage escrow funds.
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