One of the more popular, albeit under-the-radar, finance sector stocks became even more valuable on Thursday. The Bancorp's (TBBK 0.06%) share price rose by nearly 8% that trading session, thanks largely to a recommendation upgrade from an analyst.
It's been quite the pivot
The Bancorp, an innovative fintech that provides back-end banking services for companies that wish to offer them but lack their own bank charters, was upgraded by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods. That firm's analyst, Timothy Switzer, now rates the company an outperform (buy, in other words), up from his previous tag of market perform (hold).
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According to reports, Switzer wrote that The Bancorp stands to gain from its relatively recent morphing into a third-party banking services fintech from its former concentration on being a "sponsor bank" for payment cards. As this includes a suite of new programs, the company has a good chance of at least meeting the aggressive guidance laid out by management.
In future periods, the company's atypical business model should lead to higher growth over its more traditional peer banks, the analyst predicted.
NASDAQ: TBBK
Key Data Points
A third-party standout
The Bancorp is indeed an exciting and innovative operator in the typically staid and tradition-bound banking world. It continues to grow its business and to post impressively high-margin profits, and I think its high potential justifies the fairly rich valuations of the stock at present.
