Glacier Bancorp (GBCI) Closes Acquisition Of State Bank Corp

Glacier Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:GBCI) completed the acquisition of Lake Havasu City, AZ-based State Bank Corp., the bank holding company for State Bank of Arizona. The stock-and-cash deal of $135.3 million was announced in September 2019.

At the time of announcement, it was decided that shareholders of State Bank Corp will receive 0.3706 shares of Glacier Bancorp and $1.69 in cash for each share of State Bank Corp they hold.

Also, it was anticipated that the transaction would be accretive to Glacier Bancorp’s earnings by 1.02% in 2020 and 1.45% in 2021, excluding one-time transaction charges of $6.7 million after tax.

Now, with the deal closure, State Bank of Arizona merged with Glacier Bancorp’s Foothills Bank Division. This is expected to expand Glacier Bancorp’s footprint in Arizona.

As of Dec 31, 2019, State Bank of Arizona had total assets of $677.6 million, total loans of $439.2 million and total deposits of $586.8 million. Thus, the acquisition is expected to strengthen Glacier Bancorp’s balance sheet.

Glacier Bancorp has been expanding through acquisitions for the past several years.

In July 2019, the company acquired Reno, NV-based Heritage Bancorp and its wholly-owned subsidiary, Heritage Bank of Nevada. In April 2019, it completed the acquisition of FNB Bancorp and its wholly-owned subsidiary, The First National Bank of Layton, a community bank based in Layton, UT.

These acquisitions support Glacier Bancorp to further diversify its loan, customer and deposit base. The company’s buyouts are in line with its footprint-expansion initiatives, which will likely keep boosting profitability in the days ahead.

In the past year, shares of Glacier Bancorp have lost 9.5% compared with 14.9% decline of the industry it belongs to.

Currently, the company carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

A few better-ranked stocks from the finance space are mentioned below.

Cohen & Steers Inc.’s (NYSE:CNS) Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has been revised upward by 7.6% over the past 60 days. Moreover, the stock has rallied 22.2% in the past six months. It currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Legg Mason, Inc. (NYSE:LM) has witnessed upward earnings estimate revision of 2.7% for the current fiscal year over the past 60 days. The company’s shares have gained 35.1% in the past six months. At present, the stock flaunts a Zacks Rank of 1. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

The consensus estimate for earnings of Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM) has been revised 6.7% upward for the current year over the past 60 days. The stock has gained 12% over the past six months. Currently, it carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

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