A Smalller, Better Bank

First Niagara Financial Group Inc. (FNFG) was added to the virtual portfolio today. I bought 6,690 shares at $14.94 for a current value of $100,350. First Niagara Financial Group, Inc. owns First Niagara Bank and operates about 115 branches in Upstate New York. They've had an incredible growth rate over the past 5 years, handily beating out all of the market indices with a cumulative gain of 250%! They also have some pretty solid fundamentals. Their trailing & forward p/e averaged is 17.14. They have a debt/equity ratio of 0.53.

First Niagara's stock price should see some upward movement after the January 31st Fed meeting, as mentioned in my previous posts: I'm Banking on Bank of America Corp. , and A Bullish Start for the New Year!

First Niagara Financial News:

Press Release Newswire: First Niagara Financial Group to Announce 4th Quarter 2005 Results on January 18

timesunion.com: This is an article about a failed hostile takeover of Ballston Spa National Bank by TrustCo Bank Corp NY. However, at the end of the article there is mention of a possible aquisition by First Niagara.

Buffalo News:

• "First Niagara Financial Group continued its growth strategy in 2005, completing three major purchases. In January, the Lockport- based bank completed the deal for Hudson River Bancorp, giving it 50 branches in eastern New York state.
  In August, First Niagara bought the Hatch Leonard Naples insurance agency to create the largest insurance agency in Rochester and Buffalo. And in September, it bought employee benefits and compensation consulting firm Burke Group of Honeoye Falls. Those deals continued the company's move into non-banking services, like insurance and financial services. The strategy has showed success: third-quarter profits were up 81 percent, to $24.4 million. It now has 117 branches across upstate New York, with $8 billion in assets."