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NEWS RELEASE
May 30, 2008
Contact: Jim Eberle
(202) 663-5477
E-mail: jeberle@aba.com
ABA ANNOUNCES NAME AND SYMBOL CHANGES TO ITS NASDAQ INDEX, ADDS NINE COMMUNITY BANKS TO THE INDEX
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The American Bankers Association announced today that it is updating the name and ticker symbol of its NASDAQ community bank index, and is adding nine banks to the index, effective June 1.
The new name will be the ABA NASDAQ Community Bank Index and the ticker symbol for prices changes will be ABAQ. The changes reflect the merger of ABA with America's Community Bankers in December. ACB launched the Index in December 2003, with the name America's Community Bankers NASDAQ Index, and the ACBQ ticker symbol was assigned when intraday pricing became available.
As of June 1, the index includes some 500 community banks with a market capitalization of about $140 billion.
"The ABA NASDAQ Community Bank Index and the new ABAQ ticker symbol demonstrate ABA's continued commitment to the community bank sector of our industry," said ABA Chairman Bradley E. Rock. "The Index is the most broadly representative stock index for community banks and remains an important tool for giving our banks more visibility with analysts and investors," said Rock, who is also chairman and CEO of Bank of Smithtown in Smithtown, N.Y., a member of the index.
Rock announced that members of the Index will have the opportunity to make presentations to investors and securities analysts at ABA's ninth Community Bank Investor Conference, Oct. 27-28, in New York City. Members are also invited to join with ABA in closing the NASDAQ market on Oct. 27.
The Index includes all banks and savings associations listed on the NASDAQ, with the exception of any of the 50 largest banks and thrifts based on asset size, banks classified as having an "international specialization" and banks classified as having a "credit card specialization." Asset size and business classifications are based on the most recently available FDIC data.
The Index is calculated on both a total return and a price return basis. The Index is reported daily as a total return index, which means that the value of reinvested dividends is included in the calculation. It is available on ABA's website at www.aba.com. The total return index is commonly used as a benchmark in proxy statements.
Price changes throughout the trading day are updated every 15 seconds and can be accessed using the symbol ABAQ. These intraday price quotes are also available at www.aba.com and through such financial data services as Yahoo and Bloomberg.
ABAQ listings are published daily in the Market Monitor column of the American Banker newspaper. Each bank's listing includes the previous day's closing price and the daily percentage price change, the 52 week high and low, the price/earnings ratio, and the dividend yield. The banks are grouped by market capitalization in four categories: More than $1 billion; $500 million to $1 billion; $100 million to $500 million; and less than $100 million. Each category also includes the top movers of the Index.
The Index is capital weighted and adjusted for splits and spin-offs. Newly eligible companies are added on June 1 and Dec. 1. The complete list can be accessed on ABA's website at www.aba.com.
Additions to the index, as of June 1, include the following:
- 1st Pacific Bancorp (FPBN), San Diego, Calif.
- Great Florida Bank (GFLB), Coral Gables, Fla.
- MidWestOne Financial Group (MOFG), Iowa City, Iowa
- Camden National Corp (CAC), Camden, Maine
- Meridian Interstate Bancorp (EBSB), East Boston, Mass.
- Danvers Bancorp, Inc. (DNBK), Danvers, Mass.
- Cape Bancorp, Inc. (CBNJ), Cape May Court House, N.J.
- Northfield Bancorp, Inc. (NFBK), Staten Island, N.Y.
- First Advantage Bancorp (FABK), Clarksville, Tenn.
The American Bankers Association brings together banks of all sizes and charters into one association. ABA works to enhance the competitiveness of the nation's banking industry and strengthen America¡¯s economy and communities. Its members ¨C the majority of which are banks with less than $125 million in assets ¨C represent over 95 percent of the industry¡¯s $12.7 trillion in assets and employ over 2 million men and women.
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