The bank sold its $289M Justice loan book, booking an $80M cash gain, reducing bad loans from $244M to $24M, and is now paying its first dividend in 10 years. The stock trades at only 2x price to operating cash flow, and the cash windfall is real and will be used for share buybacks, IT upgrades, and organic growth. A clean balance sheet, proven management, and a low valuation make this a compelling value play despite a 15-month run from $16 to $31. The cash gain is one-time; the underlying bank is still a slow-growth community lender with retail branch overhead; ongoing litigation with Justice family; stock re-rating may already be priced in.
The bank sold its $289M Justice loan book, booking an $80M cash gain, reducing bad loans from $244M to $24M, and is now paying its first dividend in 10 years. The stock trades at only 2x price to operating cash flow, and the cash windfall is real and will be used for share buybacks, IT upgrades, and organic growth. A clean balance sheet, proven management, and a low valuation make this a compelling value play despite a 15-month run from $16 to $31. The cash gain is one-time; the underlying bank is still a slow-growth community lender with retail branch overhead; ongoing litigation with Justice family; stock re-rating may already be priced in.