Keefe, Bruyette, & Woods Raises Price Target on First California Financial (FCAL)

Keefe, Bruyette, & Woods is out with a research report this morning, where it reiterates its Market Perform rating on First California Financial Group Inc.

; it has a $4.00 price target on the stock. The analysts said, “Following First California's acquisition of Western Commercial Bank from the FDIC we are updating our earnings model for FCAL. We estimate the after-tax BPO gain from the transaction at $0.04 per share, and the annual impact to EPS at $0.03. The transaction validates FCAL's growth prospects and is clear step toward ultimately achieving ROEs above the cost of capital.” First California Financial was created as a result of an MOE between National Mercantile Bancorp and FCB Bancorp in 1Q07. Its subsidiary, First California Bank, is a $1.5 billion-in-assets commercial bank operating in the greater Los Angeles area.