New York Community Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:NYB)

I did a stock filter on companies with free cash flow above $400M, dividend payouts above 5%, and the price/book ratio at or below 1. NYB came out on top of the list. This seems to be a no-brainer.

high dividend good market now NYC apt's

While I like this stock for it's solid portfolio of loans and its large and seemingly defensible dividend, it is not flashy.

Loans that finance multifamily dwelling or apartment buildings are not the kind of things that the lords of the universe are interested in. It is a slow plodding business that makes money slowly.

The rest of the banks will continue to do well because they have guardian angels in Washington DC. This bank will do well because it has a good business model. Old, tried and true.

So for the next year as all the politicians continue to do all they can to support the "financial system", the big banks and the S&P will do better than a moderately small bank that has a good business model but is not "too big to fail."

12/17

Liking this stock a lot...probably make it about 3% of real portfolio. Haven't raised the dividend in a long time, but I think this is a solid bank that has a good business model.

undervalued

New York Community Bancorp is another strong bank which has stood well against time, continuing to pay a dividend through the recession and rejecting TARP funds. The management has not lost focus on their business model of growth through acquisitions and focusing on multifamily lending which through different trends, sticking to the business model required conviction in it however this shows that it is a successful one.

NYB has strong asset quality with net-charge offs making up 0.09% of average loans. Non-performing loans in 2010 were at a 3 year high but has started to decrease this quarter. The bank has strong credit ratings also with triple B long-term rating from Fitch. Finally it is in the top 10 for all of the 5 states it operates in, for deposit market share.

The ratios that I use for quickly assessing banks are as follows:

Nonperforming Loans / Total Assets: 1.2%

Average Total Equity / Average Assets:

Price-to-Tangible Book Value: 1.94

Tangible Common Equity Ratio (median ratio for banks is 8.60%): 8%

Non-Performing Loans / Total Loans: 1.76%

Net Charge-offs to Average Loans: 0.09%

Non-Performing Loans to Charge-Off Ratio: 6.24

Net Interest Margin: 3.6%

Efficiency Ratio: 40.99%

Tier 1 Capital Ratio: 12.06

Further evidence of the bank sticking to its business model is that during the crisis, having applied for TARP and being approved, it then declined receiving the funds and one of the two main reasons for this was that by taking them, it meant that those funds couldn’t be used for acquisitions. NYB is conservative on producing loans, with Joseph R. Ficalora, President & CEO stating during a recent Conference that “Mortgage banking gives us additional supplemental earnings at low risk. Why is it low risk? Because we didn’t even get into the business until ’10 so we have almost no put risk. Out of 60 thousand odd loans there is no loan, none, that has been put.”

The downsides:
Payout ratio is on the high side; in the mid 80’s, however, such a ratio instils corporate self-discipline
Keep an eye on wholesale borrowings which have declined and now represented 29.5% of total assets at the end of June. If decreased too quickly however, this will dampen profitability.
Despite the bank being on sale and giving a dividend return in the high 7%, there have been no insider buys, and the largest insider selling was in December, by two of the Directors.
The dividend has seen no increase since 2004

What I like most about NYB is that it sticks to its black and white business model, provides a good stable dividend, and is conservative in its operations and loans.

They have been designated as one of the stronger banks to take over many failed institutions. Also, in New York, the mortgages they hold have are mostly commercial and have required 40% equity which is a good hedge against excessive forclosures. They seem to have an excellent business model which makes me believe they will initiate new ways to grow outside of real estate loans and their dividends remain outstanding. Overall I believe they are doing well given the times we are in and I strongly feel they could grow to $20 over the next 4 years.

U can't hold this back. Well managed, good roe 9.6%
P/E 10.17, long historical strong bank doing it the way
it shoild be,

Trading just below book value. P/E below 12. 5 stars on caps and yielding about 7%.

NYB as the largest population in it's area.
Banks should recover in 2012.

dividend yield and as financials get stronger and regain popularity

Quality loan portfolio, consistent dividends.

extremely low debt ..very high yield and increasing earnings and cash flow....I'm in....

Covestor Model Manager James Hofmann sold NYB in his Dividend Growth Covestor Model ( http://covestor.com/James-Hofmann )

This stock is a good one. Pays a good dividend and is buying other banks expanding it's reach.

Market Capitalization? $3.5B Dividend Yield? 4.50% Price to Earnings Growth? 1.9 EPS Growth (Projected Next Year)? 9.00%

What's not to like with NYB? Recent acquisitions have pushed the payout ratio to a secure 77% on the sky high dividends. The business model is as solid as can be - fixed rate loans for multi-unit buildings. Many of the occupants of these buildings are on rent control, so there is extremely low tenant turnover. When the apartments do flip, rent goes up dramatically. Either way, the landlord should have little difficulty making mortgage payments to NYB.

NYB didn't take TARP because they didn't need to, and the FDIC has rewarded the conservative management with the assets of Amtrust and Desert Hills banks. There are still enough weak players that NYB should have additional opportunities for government-assisted growth without having to dip into cash and put the signature dividend at risk.

High Yield and Fair Value