Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 12, 1993 TAG: 9303120236
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: A-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MAG POFF STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
BANK STOCKS SURGE
Signet Banking Corp. has been leading Virginia banks in a stock surge.Guy W. Ford, who follows the industry for Scott and Stringfellow Investment Corp. in Norfolk, said good fundamentals and merger speculation are fueling the run-up in the price of common stock of Signet, Crestar Financial Corp. and Central Fidelity Banks Inc.
"All have been very strong," he said.
Signet, however, is ahead of the pack, with a rise of about 10 points - or $10 per share - in recent weeks to $57.50 on Wednesday. It climbed $1.50 on Tuesday, when Crestar and Central Fidelity each rose $1 per share, followed by $1.75 on Wednesday.
Signet, however, fell back 75 cents Thursday to close at $56.75.
Signet and Crestar, according to Ford, "are takeover candidates." Signet, in particular, is widely considered to be a good match for Wachovia Bank of Winston-Salem, N.C.
But Ford said earnings estimates are up for all of those banks, especially Signet. "Fundamental trends are very strong."
He said Signet is expected to have excellent prospects for earnings this year. Signet is conducting a campaign for more credit card business that has been several years in the making, Ford said. The bank expects to add about $200 million a quarter to its credit card loan portfolio, according to Ford.
As a result, he said, Signet and other Virginia banks are in line with the rising stocks of other banking institutions throughout the nation.
First Union Corp. of Charlotte, N.C., for instance, was up $1 a share on Wednesday to $49.25. Its stock could be had for $38 a share last September, when it announced it would acquire Roanoke's Dominion Bankshares Corp., and for $47.25 when the deal closed on March 1.