First California Financial (FCAL) - Zacks #1 Rank Top Performers

But that's what happens when there's another round of political/social turmoil in a Middle Eastern country. Thousands continue to protest in Libya, sending the price of oil into the $100/barrel range. Will such disturbances disrupt our economic recovery? That was the topic of one of our analyst blogs today; read Middle East Turmoil & the U.S. Recovery.

But as far as Wednesday is concerned, the Dow moved lower by 0.88%, or about 107 points. Another bad day like the last two and this index could fall below 12,000. Meanwhile, the S&P was only down 0.61%, or slightly more than 8 points, while the NASDAQ declined 1.21%, or approximately 33 points.

First California Financial Group, Inc. (FCAL) had a good performance despite the tough session, as shares advanced 6.51%. Volume jumped to more than 242,000 shares, compared to the daily average of only around 56,000.

FCAL, the holding company of First California Bank, specializes in serving the financial needs of the commercial market, particularly small-and middle-sized businesses, professional firms and commercial real estate, development and construction companies.

Early this month, the company reported fourth-quarter earnings per share of 4 cents, reversing a steep year-ago loss of 19 cents. The result also inched past the Zacks Consensus Estimate by a penny, accounting for a positive surprise of more than 33%. It was the third beat in the last 4 quarters.

First California, which recently acquired San Luis Trust Bank, said it used a difficult environment to make several positive moves, including strengthening its cash position and reserve levels, increasing its core deposits and reducing its operating expenses.

The solid quarterly performance sparked earnings estimate activity for FCAL. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for this year is currently 24 cents per share, which is up more than 14% in 30 days. All 3 estimates for the quarter moved higher.

As for 2012, the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 33 cents suggests year-over-year growth of 37.5%. This outlook is up 3.1% in 3 months.

Banks have a lot of representation on the Zacks #1 Rank List. Including FCAL (which is part of the Banks-West industry), there are 10 total companies from this space. The other 9 are BBVA Banco Frances S.A. (BFR, Banks-Foreign), BanColombia S.A. (CIB, Banks-Foreign), Carolina Bank Holdings Inc. (CLBH, Banks-Southeast), Enterprise Financial Services Corp. (EFSC, Banks-Midwest), Southeastern Bank Financial Corp. (SBFC, Banks-Southeast), Southside Bancshares Corp. (SBSI, Southwest), State Bancorp, Inc. (STBC, Banks-Northeast), TriCo Bancshares (TCBK, Banks-West) and VIST Financial Corp. (VIST, Banks-Northeast).

By the way, SBFC was another big performer on Wednesday with shares that increased more than 11%.

 
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FIRST CA FINL (FCAL): Free Stock Analysis Report
 
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VIST FINANCIAL (VIST): Free Stock Analysis Report
 
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