April 9, 2001
MAINE STOCK TRENDS
Bank takeover produces big stock price gain
Copyright © 2001 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc.
 Updated prices for 37 Maine stocks are listed on our stocks page. | |
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Maine stocks beat the average, once again (April 2, 2001)
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The biggest upside move in a quite some time among local stocks occurred last week. Norway Savings Bank announced its intention to acquire all of the outstanding shares of First Coastal Corporation (FCME-$20.06) for $21 per share cash. The transaction, when completed, will create Maine's fourth largest bank.
First Coastal Corporation is a Portland-based bank holding company that owns Coastal Bank, which has branches from Saco to Topsham. In the early '90s, the company was part of Suffield Financial, a Connecticut bank holding company that was seized by bank regulators because of financial troubles. The Maine bank managed to persevere, eventually convincing regulators that it could raise the capital necessary to survive on its own, something that was pretty much unheard of among seized banks.
The acquisition is subject to regulatory approval as well as that of First Coastal's shareholders. Both are expected to approve the transaction. The acquisition allows Norway to enter the populated markets of Greater Portland and Greater Brunswick. Shareholders will end up with an acquisition price that's better than twice the average price at which their shares have changed hands in recent years. In this kind of market, that's not bad. Norway Savings is a mutual savings bank, headquartered in Norway, Maine, so there will be no stock in the hands of the public once the deal is completed. Norway intends to retain the Coastal Bank name, for the time being, on all of First Coastal's branches.
For the week, shares of First Coastal were up 78.33 percent. Year to date, the stock is up 111 percent, making it the top performing Maine stock for the year.
Fairchild Semiconductor (FCS-$12.71) fell 4.58 percent last week. During the week, the stock scraped $11.86, which was just $0.36 above its all time low reached on December 26, 2000. The company will release its first quarter results and host a conference call on Tuesday, April 24, 2001 at 4:45 p.m. EDT.
I-Many (IMNY-$11.625) broke to a new low last week also. The stock traded as low as $7.625 last Tuesday. That was the same day that the company took the unusual step of stating that it expects to meet or exceed the high end of the first quarter revenue estimates. A conference call will be held at 5 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time on April 19, 2001. The live Web cast may be found at CCBN at www.streetevents.com. For the week, I-Many's stock actually finished up 2.20 percent.
IDEXX Laboratories (IDXX-$21) plans to release its earnings this week. First quarter results are due out Thursday, April 12 before the market opens. The company has scheduled a conference call that morning at 9 a.m. to discuss results. It can be found on the web at this site: webcast.themeetingson.com/confluence.jsp?content=joinEvent.jsp, reservation number 18499961. For the week, the stock fell 4.27 percent.
Nyer Medical Group, Inc. (NYER-$3.25) stock has been taking it on the chin so far this year. The stock was the worst performer for the first quarter. Then it tumbled 5.45 percent during the first week of this second quarter. The action followed an announcement Tuesday that the company had discontinued all negotiations in conjunction with the acquisition of the World Health Network and accepted the resignation of board member and vice president Dr. Robert M. Goldman. The next day, 45,800 shares traded, about eight times the normal volume. The stock traded as low as $2.13, down 38 percent from where it closed the previous week. The stock was down an additional 14 percent in the previous week. According to the most recent SEC filing, Goldman does not own any Nyer stock.
Nyer is a holding company based in Bangor with operations in the medical products distribution and services business, retail pharmacy business, and emergency equipment and supplies.
UnumProvident Corporation (UNM-$28) announced on April 3, that it has closed on the transaction to purchase the assets of EmployeeLife.com, an Internet Capital Group partner company located in Mountain View, California. EmployeeLife.com helps employers manage and administer employee benefits. For the week, UnumProvident stock fell 4.18 percent.
Brad McCurtain is president of Maine Securities Corporation. Maine Securities Corporation is an investment firm specializing in Maine's securities. From time to time, the corporation, its employees, and its clients may buy, hold, and/or sell positions in companies mentioned herein. As a regulated securities broker/dealer, the company and its employees are required to abide by all securities regulations at all times when communicating with the public. Brad McCurtain may be reached at info@MaineSec.com. Web site: http://www.MaineSec.com