Top 10 Regional Bank Companies To Invest In Right Now

The banking sector usually moves in lockstep with the broader economy, and that is especially true for regional banks that focus on traditional banking operations. As the U.S. economy continues to grow, bank investors are hoping to see the demand for loans pick up as well.

In this video, Motley Fool banking analyst David Hanson discusses three regional banks that were climbing higher today and tells investors why the outlook remains bright for this segment of the banking world.

With big finance firms still trading at deep discounts to their historic norms, investors everywhere are wondering if this is the new normal, or whether finance stocks are a screaming buy today. The answer depends on the company, so to help figure out�whether Regions Financial is a buy�today, I invite you to read our premium research report on the company today.�Click here now�for instant access!

10 Best Prefered Stocks To Own Right Now: Patterson Companies Inc.(PDCO)

Patterson Companies, Inc. operates as a distributor serving the dental, companion-pet veterinarian, and rehabilitation supply markets in North America. Its Dental Supply segment provides consumable dental supplies, such as x-ray film and solutions; impression and restorative materials; hand instruments; sterilization products; anesthetics; infection control products, including protective clothing, gloves, and facemasks; paper, cotton, and disposable products; toothbrushes; dental accessories; printed office products, office filing supplies, and practice management systems; x-ray machines, handpieces, dental chairs and handpiece control units, diagnostic equipment, dental lights, compressors, chair-side restoration systems, and inter-oral cameras; practice management and clinical software; hardware and networking solutions; and patient education solutions. The company?s Veterinary Supply segment offers consumable supplies, such as lab supplies, paper goods, needles and syr inges, gauze and wound dressings, sutures, latex gloves, and orthopedic and casting products; pharmaceuticals comprising anesthetics, antibiotics, ointments, and nutraceuticals; diagnostics; biologicals, including vaccines and injectibles; and equipment and software. Its Rehabilitation Supply segment provides dressing and grooming devices, and toileting, dining, and bathing aids; braces, splints, and orthotics; exercise bands, putty, weight balls, and mats; walkers, canes, and wheelchair accessories; rolls, wedges, seating and standers, and mobility assistance products; motor stimulation products; products for heating and cooling therapies, electrical stimulation, laser, ultrasound, paraffin, iontophoresis, and therapeutic creams and lotions; and rehabilitation equipment and software. The company was formerly known as Patterson Dental Company and changed its name to Patterson Companies, Inc. in June 2004. Patterson Companies, Inc. was founded in 1877 and is based in St. Paul , Minnesota.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Eric Volkman]

  Patterson (NASDAQ: PDCO  ) has elected not to raise its quarterly shareholder payout. The company today declared a regular stock dividend of $0.16 per share, to be paid on July 26 to shareholders of record as of July 11. That amount matches the company's previous distribution, which was paid at the end of April. Before that, Patterson handed out $0.14 per share.

• [By Seth Jayson]

  Patterson Companies (Nasdaq: PDCO  ) reported earnings on May 23. Here are the numbers you need to know.

  The 10-second takeaway
  For the quarter ended April 27 (Q4), Patterson Companies met expectations on revenues and met expectations on earnings per share.

• [By Vera Yuan]

  During the quarter, the Fund initiated positions in eight companies and strategically added to positions in sixteen companies. Over the same time period, the Fund eliminated its holdings in six companies and strategically decreased its holdings in another five companies. Positions initiated during the last three months include: Dorman Products, Inc. (DORM), Dover Corp. (DOV), DSW Inc. (DSW), First Niagara Financial Group (FNFG), Packaging Corporation of America (PKG), Patterson Companies, Inc. (PDCO), The Travelers Companies Inc. (TRV), and Universal Health Services Inc (UHS). Positions eliminated during the past quarter include: ABB Ltd. (ABB), Ann Inc. (ANN), Baxter International (BAX), International Game Technology (IGT), TRW Automotive Holdings (TRW), and URS Corporation (URS).

Top 10 Regional Bank Companies To Invest In Right Now: CECO Environmental Corp.(CECE)

CECO Environmental Corp. provides air-pollution control technology products and services worldwide. The company offers engineered equipment, cyclones, scrubbers, dampers, diverters, regenerative thermal oxidizers, component parts, and monitoring and managing services. Its Engineered Equipment Technology and Parts Group segment provides air handling equipment and systems for filtering, cooling, heating, and capturing emissions in the metal industries; systems for corrosion protection, fugitive emissions control, evaporative cooling, and other ventilation and air handling applications; and fume exhaust systems that provide control of oil mist and fumes, as well as remove liquid particles and vapor phase emissions from rolling mill, machining, and other oil mist generating processes. This segment also markets a strip cooler under the JET*STAR name designed to cool metal strip coatings. The company?s Contracting/Services Group segment offers oil mist collection, dust collecti on, industrial exhaust, chip collection, make-up air, and automotive spray booth systems, as well as industrial and process piping, and other industrial sheet metal works. This segment also engages in fabricating parts, engineered subassemblies, and customized products for air pollution and non-air pollution systems from sheet, plate, and structurals. Its Component Parts Group segment manufactures and markets component parts for industrial air systems to contractors, distributors, and dealers. The company markets its products and services under the Kirk & Blum, CECO Filters, Busch International, CECO Abatement Systems, KB Duct, Effox, Fisher-Klosterman, Buell, A.V.C., FKI, and Flextor names. It serves aerospace, brick, cement, steel, ceramics, metalworking, printing, paper, food, foundries, utilities, metal plating, woodworking, chemicals, glass, automotive, ethanol, pharmaceuticals, and refining industries. CECO Environmental Corp. was founded in 1966 and is headquartered i n Cincinnati, Ohio.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Seth Jayson]

  Calling all cash flows
  When you are trying to buy the market's best stocks, it's worth checking up on your companies' free cash flow once a quarter or so, to see whether it bears any relationship to the net income in the headlines. That's what we do with this series. Today, we're checking in on CECO Environmental (Nasdaq: CECE  ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.

Top 10 Regional Bank Companies To Invest In Right Now: KBridge Energy Corp (BMMCF)

KBridge Energy Corp., incorporated on October 23, 2002, is a development-stage company. The Company is engaged in providing consulting services.

The Company markets resource-based opportunities in North America to customers based in Korea as a broker for energy and resource related contracts. As of December 31, 2012, the Company had not generated any revenues.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Peter Graham]

  Small cap stocks KBridge Energy Corp (OTCMKTS: BMMCF), Medifocus Inc (OTCMKTS: MDFZF) and Inscor Inc (OTCMKTS: IOGA) have been getting some attention lately in various investment newsletters and some of it is deserved as the first stock sank 35% on Friday, the second one recently released its financials (which did show a big improvement, but there is also a big catch for investors) and the third one has been the subject of a very aggressive promotional campaign. But are any of these three small caps really all that hot for investors? Here is a quick reality check:

Top 10 Regional Bank Companies To Invest In Right Now: MEDL Mobile Holdings Inc (MEDL)

MEDL Mobile Holdings, Inc. incorporated on May 22, 2008 is a developer, incubator, marketer and aggregator of mobile application software (Apps). The Company is engaged in the monetization of mobile application software through four revenue generating platforms: development of customized Apps for third parties to monetize their particular intellectual property, persona or brand, incubation of Apps in partnership with third parties and from a library of more than 75,000 original Apps concept submissions, sale of advertising and sponsorship opportunities directly to brands via mobile advertising networks and acquisition of Apps from other developers and use of a application programming interface ( API).

The Company develops Apps for customers that vary in size from small start-ups to large multinational corporations, in a range of industries including retailing, fast food, air travel, medical devices, higher education and fashion. As of December 31, 2011, revenues its custom development accounted for approximately 93% of its total revenues. The Company prepares packages for sale in the Apple App Store and the Google Android Marketplace. This package includes app store copy, sample screen shots.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Peter Graham]

  Small cap stocks Digital Caddies Inc (OTCMKTS: CADY), MEDL Mobile Holdings Inc (OTCMKTS: MEDL) and Yappn Corp (OTCMKTS: YPPN) offer different ways to potentially profit from Internet or mobile technology. However, all three small cap stocks have also been the subject of paid promotions or investor relations types of activities. So will investors actually profit from the efforts of these small caps to profit from the Internet or mobile technology? Here is a quick reality check:

Top 10 Regional Bank Companies To Invest In Right Now: CRB Futures Index(CR)

Crane Co. manufactures and sells engineered industrial products in the United States and internationally. The company operates in five segments: Aerospace & Electronics, Engineered Materials, Merchandising Systems, Fluid Handling, and Controls. The Aerospace & Electronics segment offers pressure, fuel flow, and position sensors and subsystems; brake control systems; coolant, lube and fuel pumps; and seat actuation products. This segment also provides power supplies and custom microelectronics for aerospace, defense, medical, and other applications; and electrical power components, power management products, electronic radio frequency, and microwave frequency components and subsystems for the defense, space, and military communications markets. The Engineered Materials segment manufactures fiberglass-reinforced plastic panels for the truck trailer and recreational vehicle markets, industrial markets, and the commercial construction industry. The Merchandising Systems segmen t offers vending solutions, such as food, snack, and beverage vending machines; and vending machine software and online solutions, as well as payment solutions, including coin accepters and dispensers, coin hoppers, coin recyclers, bill validators, and bill recyclers. The Fluid Handling segment manufactures and sells various industrial and commercial valves and actuators; provides valve testing, parts, and services; manufactures and sells pumps and water purification solutions; distributes pipe, pipe fittings, couplings, and connectors; and designs, manufactures, and sells corrosion-resistant plastic-lined pipes and fittings. The Controls segment produces ride-leveling, air-suspension control valves for heavy trucks and trailers; pressure, temperature, and level sensors; ultra-rugged computers, measurement and control systems, and intelligent data acquisition products; and water treatment equipment. Crane Co. was founded in 1855 and is based in Stamford, Connecticut.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Chuck Carnevale]

  Next, I run graphs on liquidity ratios and additional data on various valuation ratios to include price to book value (pb), price to cash flow (pcfl), price to free cash flow (pfcfl) and others that can be seen as options on the navigation bar to the left of the sample graph which only plots the current ratio (cr), a quick ratio (qr) and for those diehards concerned with volatility [size=11.0pt;line-height:115%; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi; mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">��/p>

Top 10 Regional Bank Companies To Invest In Right Now: Trico Bancshares (TCBK)

TriCo Bancshares (TriCo), incorporated on October 13, 1981, is a bank holding company that operates through its wholly owned subsidiary, Tri Counties Bank (the Bank). The Bank conducts a commercial banking business, including accepting demand, savings and time deposits, and making commercial, real estate and consumer loans. It also offers installment note collection, issues cashier's checks, sells travelers checks, and provides safe deposit boxes and other customary banking services. Brokerage services are provided at the Bank's offices by the Bank's association with Raymond James Financial Services, Inc., an independent financial services provider and broker-dealer. The Bank does not offer trust services or international banking services. Tri Counties Bank, TriCo Capital Trust I and TriCo Capital Trust II are the subsidiaries of the Bank. On September 23, 2011, the Bank acquired Bank of Northern California.

The Company is engaged in the banking business through 68 offices in 23 counties in Northern and Central California including ten offices in Shasta County, nine in Butte County, seven in Sacramento and Nevada Counties, six in Placer County, four in Stanislaus County, three each in Siskiyou, Sutter and Kern Counties, two each in Glenn and Yolo Counties, and one each in Contra Costa, Del Norte, Fresno, Lake, Lassen, Madera, Mendocino, Merced, Napa, Tehama, Tulare, and Yuba Counties. The Bank�� 76 automated teller machines (ATMs) are linked to several national and regional networks, such as CIRRUS and STAR. In addition, banking by telephone on a around-the-clock toll-free number is available to all customers. This service allows a customer to obtain account balances and most recent transactions, transfer moneys between accounts, make loan payments and obtain interest rate information. The Bank emphasizes on retail banking. Most of the Bank's customers are retail customers and small to medium-sized businesses. The Bank emphasizes serving the needs of local businesses, farmers and ranche! rs, retired individuals and wage earners.

Lending activities

The Bank conducts a commercial banking business, including accepting demand, savings and time deposits and making commercial, real estate, and consumer loans. It also offers installment note collection, issues cashier�� checks, sells travelers checks and provides safe deposit boxes and other customary banking services. Brokerage services are provided at the Bank�� offices by the Bank�� association with Raymond James Financial Services, Inc., an independent financial services provider and broker-dealer. The Bank concentrates its lending activities in four principal areas: real estate mortgage loans (residential and commercial loans), consumer loans, commercial loans (including agricultural loans), and real estate construction loans. The majority of the Bank�� loans are direct loans made to individuals, farmers and local businesses.

As of December 31, 2011 loans, including net deferred loan costs, totaled $1,551,032,000. As of December 31, 2011, total Real estate mortgage loans net deferred loan costs, were $ 965,922,000; total consumer loans were $ 406,330,000; total commercial loans were $ 139,131,000, and real estate construction loans were $ 39,649.

Investment Activities

The Bank classifies its investments as available for sale (AFS). As of December 31, 2011, investments consisted of corporate debt and debt securities of the United States government. As of December 31, 2011, the Bank�� securities portfolio consisted of obligations of the United States Government corporations and agencies, obligations of states and political subdivisions, and corporate bonds.

Sources of Funds

Most of the Bank's deposits are attracted from individuals and business-related sources. The various types of deposits offered by the Bank include non-interest-bearing demand deposits, interest-bearing demand deposits, savings deposits, time certificates of $100,000 and o! ver, and ! other time certificates. As of December 31, 2011, the Bank�� deposits totaled $ 2,190,536. The Bank participates in a deposit program offered by the State of California whereby the State may make deposits at the Bank�� request subject to collateral and creditworthiness constraints.

The Company had $8,527,000 of other collateralized borrowings as of December 31, 2011. The Company maintains a collateralized line of credit with the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco. Other collateralized borrowings are generally overnight maturity borrowings from non-financial institutions that are collateralized by securities owned by the Company. The Bank had available unused correspondent banking lines of credit from commercial banks totaling $5,000,000 for federal funds transactions as of December 31, 2011.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rich Duprey]

  California-based�TriCo Bancshares (NASDAQ: TCBK  ) announced today its second-quarter dividend of $0.11 per share, a 22% increase over the $0.09 per share payout it made last quarter.

Top 10 Regional Bank Companies To Invest In Right Now: LCY Chemical Corp (1704.TW)

LCY Chemical Corporation is principally engaged in the manufacture and distribution of polypropylene (PP), solvents and other chemical products. The Company provides methanol products, including methanol, formaldehyde, paraformaldehyde and dimethyl ether, among others; solvents, including ethyl acetate, isopropyl alcohol and methyl isobutyl ketone, as well as electronic chemical products, PP related products, thermoplastic rubber and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). Its products are applied in the manufacture of resins, agricultural pesticides, catalysts, medicines, paintings, inks, artificial leather products, shoes, industrial products, electronic components, toys and electrical appliances, among others. On June 23, 2014, it acquired a certain shares of TECHNOLOGY CORP. After that, it holds 86.65% stake of LCY TECHNOLOGY CORP. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Anna Prior]

  Kraton Performance Polymers Inc.'s(KRA) board is no longer pushing for the company’s stockholders to approve its plans to combine with LCY Chemical Corp.'s(1704.TW) styrenic block copolymer operations.