Sandler O’Neill Becomes Largest Researcher of U.S. Bank and Thrift Stocks

Investment banking firm Sandler O’Neill says it now publishes research on more U.S. banks and thrifts than any other investment bank. The firm, which specializes in the financial sector, now covers 195 banks and thrifts after adding coverage of 25 banks and thrifts in the past year.

In a press release issued today, Sandler O’Neill said it has increased its commitment to covering U.S. depositories at a time when many competitors have scaled back their research on the industry. Serving banks and thrifts has been at the core of Sandler O’Neill’s mission since its founding nearly 25 years ago.

A spokesman declined to discuss how many new analysts were hired to provide the extended coverage, nor did he say if the firm was looking for any analysts now.

“Depository institutions continue to undergo unprecedented change, and more than ever, institutional investors need independent, value-added research to help them unearth investment ideas,” said Mark Fitzgibbon, Principal and Director of Research at Sandler O’Neill.

The announcement pointed out that Sandler’s research reports often cover smaller issuers who have sufficient trading volume but often do not attract institutional interest. Jonathan Doyle, Managing Principal of Sandler O’Neill, said, "These institutions are critical to the U.S. economy, and we embrace our role in stimulating information flow and delivering fresh insights about them.”

Sandler O’Neill publishes equity research on a total of more than 300 financial services companies and is a market maker in hundreds of financial stocks. In addition to banks and thrifts, the firm publishes research focused on selected insurance companies, investment banks, asset managers, specialty finance companies, e-finance companies, real estate investment trusts, financial technology companies and transaction execution companies, as well as reports on policy and economic developments affecting the financial services sector.

Founded in 1988, Sandler O’Neill and Partners is a full-service investment banking firm providing advisory and transaction execution services to the financial services sector. The firm specializes in strategic business planning, mergers and acquisitions, capital markets, mutual-to-stock conversions, investment portfolio and interest rate risk management, fixed income securities transactions and mortgage finance restructurings.