Customers Bancorp (NYSE:CUBI) Shares Gap Up After Strong Earnings

Customers Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:CUBI - Get Free Report) shares gapped up prior to trading on Friday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $50.33, but opened at $51.64. Customers Bancorp shares last traded at $50.65, with a volume of 55,086 shares.

The bank reported $1.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.26. Customers Bancorp had a net margin of 13.07% and a return on equity of 12.29%. The firm had revenue of $194.28 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $165.24 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.68 earnings per share.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on CUBI. Maxim Group lifted their target price on shares of Customers Bancorp from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Stephens restated an "equal weight" rating and set a $58.00 target price on shares of Customers Bancorp in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on Customers Bancorp from $67.00 to $65.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Monday. Finally, DA Davidson raised their price target on shares of Customers Bancorp from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $63.80.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Jay S. Sidhu sold 67,000 shares of Customers Bancorp stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.82, for a total value of $3,806,940.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 965,723 shares of the company's stock, valued at $54,872,380.86. The trade was a 6.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Glenn Hedde sold 15,815 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.25, for a total transaction of $921,223.75. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 55,211 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,216,040.75. This trade represents a 22.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 115,988 shares of company stock worth $6,627,318 in the last 90 days. 6.92% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Customers Bancorp

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Picton Mahoney Asset Management increased its position in Customers Bancorp by 47.7% during the 4th quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 585 shares of the bank's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares during the period. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in Customers Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Customers Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth approximately $46,000. KBC Group NV lifted its stake in shares of Customers Bancorp by 82.8% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,495 shares of the bank's stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 677 shares during the period. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Customers Bancorp by 323.5% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,643 shares of the bank's stock valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 1,255 shares in the last quarter. 89.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Customers Bancorp Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The firm has a market cap of $1.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.79 and a beta of 1.47. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $49.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $50.93.

Customers Bancorp Company Profile

Customers Bancorp, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Customers Bank that provides financial products and services to individual consumers, and small and middle market businesses. The company provides deposit banking products, which includes commercial and consumer checking, non-interest-bearing and interest-bearing demand, MMDA, savings, and time deposit accounts.