W Holding Company, Inc. (WHI)

executive51 (< 20) Submitted: 10/23/2007 1:45:29 AM : Start Price: $92.91 WHI Score: -59.01

sleeping stock

karry007 (< 20) Submitted: 10/19/2007 4:49:01 PM : Start Price: $92.91 WHI Score: -60.33

next year is 50's birthday of the bank.

kaykim20 (< 20) Submitted: 8/17/2007 12:07:48 AM : Start Price: $100.45 WHI Score: -63.75

Undervalued, despite low earnings and pending lawsuits.

cowmarx (93.61) Submitted: 7/24/2007 11:16:34 AM : Start Price: $99.80 WHI Score: -59.82

0.35x book? It's money on the floor! The bank is no gem by any accounts but the price dip is way overdone.. it'll take some stretch in imagination to see an $18bn asset bank killed by an $80m charge (or even $160m for the chicken-littles), remote possibility in WHI losing the lawsuit either. So what if the bank takes the next one, two years to recoup all the direct & indirect losses? The stock HAS to recover to at least 1x book that all normal non-loss-making banks trade above after the dust has settled, a 300% gain over say 3 years can't be that bad. I've seen some other pitch mention excessive debt leverage.. what excessive leverage?? This is a bank we're talking about! At 10+% B1 ratios, WHI is as conservative as one can get! ROE sucks despite good 20+% CAGR credit growth (good in quantity at least), but to be fair Puerto Rico hasn't been the most conducive banking environment.

In short, the price will still face near-term pressure, but 0.35x book is just too insane to ignore.. For the relative-value nuts: loss-making banks in Thailand trade at 0.8x book (and Thailand is one of the cheaper markets in the world)

sandfish (25.68) Submitted: 6/28/2007 12:45:52 AM : Start Price: $122.12 WHI Score: -63.93

I DO THINK THIS STOCK WILL REBOUND.COULD GO LOWER,BUT I WOULD GAMBLE AT THIS PRICE

whocannotbenamed (< 20) Submitted: 5/17/2007 12:24:02 PM : Start Price: $224.01 WHI Score: -69.55

Clearly undervalued. Might take some time to move as fed is not likely to help w/ rates.

Classic value play.

jethromoore (32.37) Submitted: 3/20/2007 6:16:22 PM : Start Price: $208.37 WHI Score: -75.01

This stock is WAY UNDERVALUED!!! Recent short comings of the Puerto Rican economy and sub prime woes have made this a great value play!

Take a look at the balance sheet and you will see that the tan assest-liabilies are worth 30% MORE than the stock. WHI pays out a 3.9% dividend yield, which puts the payout ratio at 50% of it's earnings... the didivend has also been consistent since 1994.

All this, and the company is still making a handsome profit... a P/E of 12.88 and projected P/E of 11.08 in a year... with Doral on the verge of going bankrupt, WHI will get to come in and fill the vacuum that the 42 branch bank will leave.

I keep hoping that someone will come along and take this bank private, or some shareholder activist will come in and help out all of us out... ironically, this is the one example of a company that I think has better long term returns in store for it's holders if it STAYS public, rather than them getting a quick private equity pay off. Oddly, this is coming from a guy who wants to see his DOW shares liquidated into different companies, plans to vote to let Icahn take control of MOT, and wishes the Texan Legislature would let his TXU shares be bought out!

czyk44 (< 20) Submitted: 3/20/2007 11:29:06 AM : Start Price: $208.79 WHI Score: -75.00

Really took a beating on their earnings, market over reacted... solid dividend, good bank.

FatCatOnly (< 20) Submitted: 2/8/2007 10:38:20 AM : Start Price: $230.58 WHI Score: -73.63

It is trading close to 52 wk low. The foundementals are sound. Large insider buying.

Rintintin10 (< 20) Submitted: 1/30/2007 11:41:07 AM : Start Price: $246.92 WHI Score: -75.22

WHI is a very well managed, conservative bank holding co. in PR., swiftly and solidly taking market share from strugglig competitors in a down market. Earnings will quickly rise when economic conditions and yield curve improves. Price will follow.

kpctop (< 20) Submitted: 10/22/2006 3:31:38 PM : Start Price: $247.92 WHI Score: -78.87

it can't get worse

Eephus (< 20) Submitted: 10/18/2006 6:41:19 PM : Start Price: $250.08 WHI Score: -79.06

A great contrarian pick now.
Patience will be rewarded.

luisitillo (68.87) Submitted: 10/10/2006 4:42:30 PM : Start Price: $254.37 WHI Score: -80.12

Same as DRL, but got a beating because its in the same industry. Very low PE, sound financials, aggresive growth policy

hanakookie (90.82) Submitted: 9/29/2006 4:06:00 AM : Start Price: $257.36 WHI Score: +80.88

Big Bank Little Bank. Still alot of fish in the sea.

noahsnyder (< 20) Submitted: 9/25/2006 12:35:09 AM : Start Price: $235.91 WHI Score: -82.06

Check out the financials. Outstanding! Hugh company trading at less than book with outstanding growth pattern over the last decade. The last 18 months have been tough for W down there in Puerto Rico, but the sell-off is way overdone. There is new management in place at Westernbank as of August (2nd largest bank in Puerto Rico--W is its holding company). It is expanding into Florida "and continues its growth and development strategy in the U.S. mainland in additional potential locations such as: Colorado, New York, Boston, and Atlanta." (press release 8-7-06) The high liability to assest ratio is very-low relative to the industry. The dividend yield is at 3.40% and the P/E (ttm) is 11.08; the P/E based on the average earnings of the last 3 years (a little calculation I find very handy) is a puny 6.88. This stock has a decent margin of safety and a lot of potential upside. This is an example of how at certain times when the risk of a security goes down, its potential reward actually goes up. If new management does a good job the stock price could increase a ton, but even if they don't, this stock is undervalued at a negative growth rate. I see this one as a strong bet.