Boston, MA 03/14/2014 (wallstreetpr) – Beneficial Mutual Bancorp Inc (NASDAQ:BNCL) operates a savings and loan holding company. Through Beneficial Bank, it attracts deposits from the public and uses the funds for loan origination including consumer loans, construction loans, commercial business loans and commercial real estate loans among other loan varieties.
The company also operates investment advisory and insurance brokerage services through wholly owned subsidiaries such as Beneficial Advisors and beneficial Insurance Services. To cap it all, Beneficial Mutual Bancorp Inc (NASDAQ:BNCL) also maintains investment portfolio. Thus, the company has diversified revenue sources and this partly explains the reason for its strength even at a time when financial stocks are troubled.
Equity rating adjustment
The stock of Beneficial Mutual Bancorp Inc (NASDAQ:BNCL) has of late seen a string of ratings revisions and mostly on the positive side of things. The latest analyst sentiment on the stock has come from Compass Point equity researcher Laurie Havener Hunsicker. The analyst initiated the stock with a buy rating and issued $15 price target.
In a note to investors Thursday, the analyst identified five key areas that justify the new rating on the stock. These key areas which reveal important strength include the fact that the stock seems discounted to its tangible book value. The expertise management of the company is yet another strength that investors can count on.
Shares of Beneficial Mutual Bancorp Inc (NASDAQ:BNCL) closed at $13.64 on Thursday, a day when more than normal volume of shares was traded and prices swinging between $13.62 and $13.95. The Thursday closing price was flat to the closing price on Wednesday at $13.64.
Ratings on the stock of Beneficial Mutual Bancorp Inc (NASDAQ:BNCL) have seen several revision in the past two weeks. Thus, from eight ratings firms that are currently actively tracking the stock, the consensus rating is “hold” and average price target is $12.23.
Insider trading
Beneficial Mutual Bancorp Inc (NASDAQ:BNCL) has witnessed insider trading in which chief executive Gerard Cuddy unloaded 10,000 shares of the company at an average price of $13.10 per share. That transaction yielded about $131,000 in proceeds and left the CEO with 28,300 direct shares in the company, all with approximate value of $370,730.
