Financial Services >> Analyst Interviews >> August 16, 2004
Stephen L. Covington, First Vice President of Stifel, Nicolaus &
Company, Inc.'s Financial Institutions Research Group, joined the
Financial Institutions Research Group in early 1996. Mr. Covington
provides research coverage on both medium and small cap financial
institutions, focusing primarily on banks and thrifts in the central
portion of the United States. Prior to joining Stifel Nicolaus, Mr.
Covington worked in the Finance Division of Boatmen's Bancshares, Inc.,
as the Assistant to the Treasurer, and was more recently employed as an
Auditor and Consultant in the Financial Institutions Group of BKD, LLP.
Mr. Covington has a BS in Accounting from the University of Missouri,
Columbia, and has earned both the Certified Pubic Accountant and
Chartered Financial Analyst designations. He is member of the St. Louis
Society of Financial Analysts, the Association for Investment Management
and Research and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. Profile
JOSEPH A. STIEVEN is Senior Vice President and Director of the Financial
Institutions Research Group at Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Inc. Mr.
Stieven formally established the company's coverage of the bank and
thrift industries when he joined Stifel in 1985. He is widely quoted by
both regional and national publications and has been a member of the
Wall Street Transcript's Midwest Regional Banking Panel in each of the
past 15 years. In addition, he has been recognized as the top analyst in
the country for the Midwest region by the American Banker. He has worked
on over 100 bank and thrift transactions over the past decade.
Additionally, he has managed nine financial institution equity trusts,
raising over $200 million and gaining national recognition. Prior to
joining Stifel, Nicolaus, he was an analyst/examiner with the Federal
Reserve Bank of St. Louis. He was responsible for designing and
programming the cash flow analysis programs which were used by the
Federal Reserve in reviewing merger/acquisition applications. He holds a
BSBA and an MBA, both with concentrations in finance, from the
University of Missouri-St. Louis. He previously has or currently serves
on the Board of Directors of Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, the University
of Missouri-St. Louis Alumni Business Board, and the St. Louis
University High School Advancement Board. Profile
TWST: What are you covering in this region?Mr. Covington: Our coverage is focused on high-quality financial
institutions with a typical asset size of around $2.5 billion. What
we've found is