Mortgage Blog

Dick Bove, a Tampa-based Wall Street analyst known for his pointed comments on some of the nation’s biggest banks, says he’s putting his money where his mouth is.

Bove has switched from researching banks and making recommendations to investors to becoming an investor himself.

He’s been named chief strategist for the Financial Opportunities Strategy at Hilton Capital Management, a privately held investment management boutique based in Garden City, New York, a press release said.

He’ll…

The updated pricing, which will take effect for all mortgage insurance applications received by June 4, comes a month after Milwaukee-based MGIC Investment Corp. said that it was reducing its borrower-paid mortgage insurance premium rates by an average of 11 percent.

Medford-based steakhouse chain Smith & Wollensky plans to close its 500-seat restaurant in Boston’s Back Bay this summer, The Boston Globe reported.

Smith & Wollensky representatives declined to speak with the Business Journal regarding the closure. Representatives did not release a formal announcement, instead directing the Business Journal to the Globe story.

Michael Feighery, Smith & Wollensky’s president, told the Globe that the restaurant’s 15-year lease was coming due. The chain would…

Transition teams are already in place to assist with the merger.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission said about 50 investors were defrauded. The firm denies the claims.

Ixonia Bank is embarking on a growth plan to build itself into a $1 billion company, and as part of that strategy, the firm will establish a presence in downtown Milwaukee and beef up its operations in Madison.

With $320 million in assets, Ixonia Bank operates seven branches in Dousman, Hartland, Ixonia and Watertown. In the next year, the company said it will open a branch in downtown Milwaukee and convert its Madison loan production office into a full-service banking center. The company is also…

Profit at Laredo-based International Bancshares Corp. was up during the first quarter this year, something the South Texas bank attributed to tax reform and its performance.

The parent company of IBC Bank (Nasdaq: IBOC) generated $53 million in net income during the quarter that ended March 31, up from $32 million during the same period in 2017, which is a 67 percent increase year-over-year.

Its provision for probable loan losses, or amount set aside for potential defaults, declined from $1.7 million…

A rebooted Bank of Houston has raised millions of dollars through its parent company as the bank looks to launch in the Bayou City again.

Houston-based BOH Holdings Inc. raised about $16.2 million, according to a May 7 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Bank of Houston NA recently surfaced with Bank of Houston's original founder Jim Stein, as the bank's chairman, president and CEO. Stein sold Bank of Houston to Independent Bank Group Inc. (Nasdaq: IBTX) for roughly $170 million…

BNP Paribas, the Paris-based majority shareholder of First Hawaiian Bank, said it will offer 15.3 million shares of First Hawaiian’s common stock in an underwritten public offering.

The secondary common stock offering would reduce BNP’s stake in the Honolulu-based bank to 49.93 percent, compared to its current 61.93 percent stake.

BNP said it intends to grant the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 1.53 million shares of the First Hawaiian’s common stock.

If…

Discount brokerage pioneer Chuck Schwab said there are positives and negatives to being dyslexic as part of a nonprofit’s video campaign this month to help end the stigma around mental health and learning disabilities among children.

“You’ll become a humbler person — humble in the sense that you don’t know everything,” Schwab said in the video. “It’s good to go to people that might be smarter than you about a subject, and it can actually lead to some leadership qualities.”

Schwab’s…