HBCP - Piper Sandler upgrades TowneBank HomeBancorp First Community Bankshares

Piper Sandler analysts upgrade TowneBank ([[TOWN]] +2.6%), HomeBancorp ([[HBCP]] +0.0%), and First Community Bankshares ([[FCBC]] +1.2%) to Overweight.For TOWN, analyst Casey Orr Whitman sees the stock's 1.4x TBV and 12.7x 2022 EPS estimate multiples (vs. peers 1.7x TBV and 13x 2022 EPS) as a good entry point. "While robust mortgage banking provided upside for TOWN in 2020 like others with larger mortgage businesses, TOWN also has a formidable and steady insurance segment that often goes unmentioned," Whitman writes.Analyst Stephen Scouten cites HBCP's better Q4 earnings and "encouraging trends regarding forward growth." Also notes the bank's stronger production through most of the year and it will no longer be facing "the same headwinds from run-off on past M&A transactions."Scouten lifts HBCP 2021 EPS estimate to $3.71 from $3.33 and 2022 EPS estimate to $3.61 from $3.03.For FCBC, the premium it once traded at has narrowed, notes Whitman. Sees capital return as

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Piper Sandler upgrades TowneBank, HomeBancorp, First Community Bankshares