Here's Why IBERIABANK (IBKC) Stock Is A Good Pick Right Now

From the vast universe of banking stocks, today we pick IBERIABANK Corporation (NASDAQ:IBKC) for you. The company offers a profitable investment opportunity based on steady earnings growth and robust fundamentals.

It has been witnessing upward estimate revisions, reflecting analysts’ optimism about its earnings growth potential. Over the past 60 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2019 and 2020 has moved north by 1.1% and 1.3%, respectively.

Further, this Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) stock has gained around 17.9% in the past three months.

IBERIABANK has a number of other aspects that make it an attractive investment option.

4 Reasons Why IBERIABANK is a Golden Egg

Earnings Strength: IBERIABANK witnessed (3-5 years) earnings per share growth of 11.60% compared with 11.54% growth recorded by the industry. Further, its long-term (3-5 years) expected EPS growth of 8% is encouraging. In addition, the company delivered average positive earnings surprise of 3.02% in the last four quarters.

Revenue Growth: IBERIABANK continues to make steady progress toward improving its top line, with sales recording five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of around 19.3% during 2014-2018. Further, the company’s projected sales growth (F1/F0) of 8.5% (as against the industry average of about 0.75%) indicates constant upward momentum in revenues.

Steady Capital Deployment: IBERIABANK’s ability to enhance shareholders’ value through regular dividend payments and share repurchases is commendable. Recently, the company raised its quarterly common stock dividend by about 5% to 43 cents per share. Notably, in November 2018, the company announced a new share buyback plan with authorization to repurchase 2.765 million shares, representing around 5% of total shares outstanding.

Stock Looks Undervalued: The stock looks undervalued when compared with the industry average. Its price-earnings (F1) and price-book value (P/B) ratios of 10.20 and 1.04 are below the respective industry averages of 11.69 and 1.20.

Other Key Picks

Webster Financial Corporation (NYSE:WBS) has been witnessing upward estimate revisions for the past 60 days. Further, the stock has appreciated more than 14% in the past three months. It currently carries a Zacks Rank #2. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

M&T Bank Corporation (NYSE:MTB) has been witnessing upward estimate revisions for the past 60 days, with the company’s shares rising nearly 18.1%, in three months’ time. It holds a Zacks Rank of 2 at present.

Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) has been witnessing upward estimate revisions for the past 60 days. Over the past three months, this Zacks #2 Ranked company’s shares have been up more than 19%.

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