Why Ocwen Financial, Deutsche Bank, and Three Other Stocks Are Trending Today

M&A in the Banking Sector

First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) is buying Carolina Bank Holding Inc. (NC) (NASDAQ:CLBH) in a cash and stock transaction for either $20 in cash per share or 1.002 shares of First Bancorp’s common stock for each share of Carolina Bank stock. The cash element will be capped at 25% of the deal, which had a total current value of around $97.3 million based on yesterday’s closing prices. Carolina Bank shares have rocketed 15% on the news while shares of First Bank have retreated 3.11%. The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2016 or first quarter of 2017. Four funds from our database owned shares of Carolina Bank Holding Inc. (NC) (NASDAQ:CLBH) and seven funds were long First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) at the end of the first quarter.

Deutsche Bank to Cut Branches

According to Reuters, Deutsche Bank AG (USA) (NYSE:DB) has won approval from the German works council to close around 200 of its 723 branches in its home country. The branch cuts are part of Deutsche Bank’s strategic overhaul initiative to boost profits and improve return on capital. Shares of the bank have fallen by 30% year-to-date due to various concerns including a slow-growing European economy and a potential ‘Brexit’. At the end of March, 10 funds tracked by us were long Deutsche Bank AG (USA) (NYSE:DB) at the end of March, up by one from the previous quarter.

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