Thrifts & Mortgage Finance

United Community Financial (NASDAQ: UCFC) holding company of The Home Savings and Loan Company, announced today that Home Savings has entered into an agreement to sell four of its western-most branches to Croghan Colonial Bank, a subsidiary of Croghan Bancshares (NASDAQ: CHBH). Croghan,...

Northeast Bancorp (NASDAQ: NBN) announced today that its insurance division – Northeast Bank Insurance Group – has been acquired by local agencies in two separate transactions, effective September 1, 2011. The Varney Agency, of Bangor, Maine, will purchase the assets of nine Northeast Bank...

First PacTrust Bancorp (NASDAQ: FPTB) and Manhattan Beach, California-based Beach Business Bank (OTCBB: BBBC) today jointly announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement pursuant to which Beach Business Bank will merge into a wholly owned subsidiary of First PacTrust. The...

HANG SENG INDEX – Weekly Intermediate Trend (3 months): Negative Tuesday's Close (ASIA): 20,233 (+ 388) UPDATE: In light of the rapid sell off, which witnessed the market trade from 22843 down to 18786 (over a 3000 point drop), four weeks ago; the Index found support near the 19200 region. This...

First Place Financial Corp. (Nasdaq: FPFC) announced today that it has received a letter from The Nasdaq Stock Market notifying the Company that, for 30 consecutive business days, the Company's common stock had not maintained a minimum bid price of $1.00 per share as required for continued listing...

First PacTrust Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ: FPTB) today announced that it has received an investment of $32.0 million in the Company's preferred stock from the United States Department of the Treasury under the Small Business Lending Fund. The SBLF is a $30 billion voluntary program intended to encourage...

NuPathe Inc (NASDAQ: PATH) shares lost 45.42% to create a new 52-week low of $2.21. The US Food & Drug Administration rejected NuPathe's experimental migraine patch. Atlantic Coast Federal Corporation (NASDAQ: ACFC) shares fell 11.31% to touch a new 52-week low of $2.43. ACFC's trailing-twelve...

New England Bancshares, Inc. (Nasdaq: NEBS) announced today that its Board of Directors approved a stock repurchase program to acquire up to 307,833 shares, or approximately 5%, of the Company's outstanding common stock. The 307,833 shares that may be repurchased under this repurchase program are...

FedFirst Financial Corporation (NASDAQ: FFCO) today announced that the Boards of Directors of the Company and the Bank have appointed Jamie L. Prah to the position of Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.

ViewPoint Financial Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: VPFG), today announced its intention to repurchase up to 5% of its total common shares outstanding, or approximately 1,741,975 shares, in the open market, based on prevailing market prices, over a period beginning on August 30, 2011, continuing until the...

Shares of Radian Group (NYSE: RDN) are higher on the session by 0.94%, currently trading at $58.27. The stock has been moving largely lower over the past three months and is currently trading below the 50-day moving average. Options traders are focusing on puts today. A short while ago the...

MutualFirst Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ: MFSF), the holding company of MutualBank, today announced that it has completely repaid funding under the TARP Capital Repurchase Plan. MutualFirst redeemed the $32.4 million of preferred stock issued to the Treasury under the TARP Capital Purchase Program in...

Below are the top mid-cap savings & loans stocks on the NYSE and the NASDAQ in terms of dividend yield. New York Community Bancorp Inc (NYSE: NYB) has a dividend yield of 8.00%. NYB's shares closed at $12.23 yesterday. First Niagara Financial Group Inc (NASDAQ: FNFG) has a dividend yield of 6...

Central Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ: CEBK) today announced that the U.S. Department of Treasury has invested $10.0 million in the Company's preferred stock under the Small Business Lending Fund (the "SBLF"). The SBLF is a voluntary program intended to encourage small business lending by providing capital...

BofI Holding, Inc. (NASDAQ: BOFI) announced today that effective as of August 19, 2011, James S. Argalas was appointed to the Company's Board of Directors. Mr. Argalas is an independent director and will serve as a member of the Internal Asset Review Committee.