Topics covered: West Coast Bank Outperformance, Southwest Bank Credit Improvement, Prolonged Interest Rate Environment Challenges, Oil Price Impact on Southwest Banks, M&A in Pacific Northwest Bank Segment, Interest Rates and Loan-Growth Strategies, Consolidation in Regional Banking
Companies covered: Oak Valley Bancorp (CA) (NASDAQ:OVLY), Pacific Mercantile Bancorp (NASDAQ:PMBC), Synovus Financial Corp. (NYSE:SNV), Signature Bank (NASDAQ:SBNY), Royal Bank Of Canada (NYSE:RY), PartnerRe Ltd. (NYSE:PRE), First Horizon National Corporation (NYSE:FHN), City National Corporation (NYSE:CYN), Axis Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS), Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH), Hancock Holding Company (NASDAQ:HBHC), Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR), Summit State Bank (NASDAQ:SSBI), Wilshire Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:WIBC), Umpqua Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ:UMPQ), SVB Financial Group (NASDAQ:SIVB), West Bancorporation (NASDAQ:WTBA), Heritage Oaks Bancorp (NASDAQ:HEOP), Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB), Cascade Bancorp (NASDAQ:CACB), Banner Corporation (NASDAQ:BANR), Sterling Bancorp (NYSE:STL), Pacific Continental Corporation (Ore) (NASDAQ:PCBK), Heritage Financial Group (NASDAQ:HBOS)
