Hancock Holding Company (HBHC) continues with its strategic restructuring initiatives. This time, the Gulfport, MS-based Southeast bank has inked a deal to divest four of its Whitney Bank retail locations in Houston, TX to the Community Trust Bank in Ruston, LA.
Not only that, the bank has also announced the opening of two new business financial centers (BFCs) in the Houston area in the coming months. The news, coming on Oct 30 after the market closed, lifted the shares of the company by more than 1% in a day’s trading.
As a matter of fact, Hancock continues to grow inorganically through acquisitions and branch expansion in strategically fit locations. The company had earlier given indication of setting up BFCs in planned locations, and the latest announcement is in sync with its strategy.
These two BFCs will be set up in the Museum District/Medical Center area and in the Energy Corridor. Given the huge growth opportunities in the Houston market, these strategic investments are expected to be considerably accretive going forward. In fact, the Whitney Bank, which was acquired by Hancock in 2011, has made significant investments in the Houston area to better serve the clients. The setting up of new BFCs will expectedly bolster the bank’s presence in the area.
On the other hand, through the branch acquisition, Community Trust Bank will assume around $135 million in deposits and $15 million in loans, and this will help the bank expand its footprint in Texas. The acquisition is expected to close in first-quarter 2015.
Hancock currently holds a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Some better-ranked Southeast banks include Access National Corp. (ANCX), Fidelity Southern Corp. (LION) and Investar Holding Corp. (ISTR). All these banks sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).
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