Was Center Bancorp Merger Wrong for ConnectOne (CNOB)? (Revised) - Tale of the Tape

ConnectOne Bancorp, Inc. (CNOB) is a provider of banking services to commercial, industrial, and governmental customers in New Jersey. On July 1, 2014, the firm completed the merger with Center Bancorp, Inc. to become a leading banking institution in the region. As part of the merger, there was a 2.6:1 stock split on the day.   

Prior to the merger, in the first half of 2014, the stock returned 4.5%. However, post merger, in the latter half of the year, the stock price fell about 5%. This is perhaps an indication that investors are concerned about the prospects of the merger.

The company did not witness any substantial improvement in the third-quarter and fourth-quarter results that followed the merger. ConnectOne’s third-quarter earnings of 28 cents was in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate whereas the fourth-quarter earnings fell short of the Zacks Consensuses Estimate of 35 cents.

However, the company is expected to report better results in the upcoming quarters, as it has earlier mentioned that the merger should be accretive to earnings in 2015.

ConnectOne Bancorp currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

(We are reissuing this article to correct a mistake. The original article, issued on Jul 2, 2014, should no longer be relied upon.)

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