Customers Bancorp (NYSE:CUBI) Reaches New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

Customers Bancorp, Inc (NYSE:CUBI) shares reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $72.56 and last traded at $72.6950, with a volume of 123600 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $70.95.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CUBI has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Customers Bancorp from $89.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Customers Bancorp from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Zacks Research upgraded Customers Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Customers Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 15th. Finally, B. Riley reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Customers Bancorp in a research report on Monday, October 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $82.88.

Customers Bancorp Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $66.42 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $63.20. The stock has a market cap of $2.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.48 and a beta of 1.61.

Customers Bancorp (NYSE:CUBI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, September 8th. The bank reported $1.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Customers Bancorp had a return on equity of 13.24% and a net margin of 12.43%.The company had revenue of $206.82 million for the quarter. Analysts forecast that Customers Bancorp, Inc will post 6.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Philip Watkins sold 2,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.04, for a total transaction of $188,616.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 50,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,307,218.96. The trade was a 5.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Bernard Bennett Banks sold 9,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.93, for a total transaction of $602,370.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 7,524 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $503,581.32. The trade was a 54.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 211,900 shares of company stock valued at $14,595,664 in the last three months. Company insiders own 8.69% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Customers Bancorp

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Arizona State Retirement System increased its holdings in Customers Bancorp by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 8,879 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $580,000 after buying an additional 155 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Customers Bancorp by 0.5% during the third quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 34,054 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,226,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares during the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its position in Customers Bancorp by 4.2% in the 2nd quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 4,542 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $267,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Customers Bancorp by 5.3% in the 1st quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,431 shares of the bank’s stock worth $222,000 after purchasing an additional 223 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Customers Bancorp by 4.6% during the second quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,562 shares of the bank’s stock worth $327,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.29% of the company’s stock.

About Customers Bancorp

Customers Bancorp, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Customers Bank that provides financial products and services to individual consumers, and small and middle market businesses. The company provides deposit banking products, which includes commercial and consumer checking, non-interest-bearing and interest-bearing demand, MMDA, savings, and time deposit accounts.