RESTON, Va.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–WashingtonFirst Bankshares, Inc. (the “Company”) (NASDAQ: WFBI) today announced its selection by Sandler O’Neill to the 2016 Class of Bank and Thrift Sm-All Stars. WashingtonFirst joins 26 other banks and thrifts in this year’s Class. According to Sandler O’Neill, the objective of the Sm-All Stars remains the same as in previous years, to identify the top performing small-cap banks and thrifts in the country. The intent is to uncover the next crop of stellar mid-cap banks before they are discovered by the rest of the world.
“To be named in this year’s Sm-All Stars class is exciting,” stated Shaza Andersen, CEO. “We work hard every single day to provide the best financial solutions for our customers, and to build real and lasting value for our shareholders. It is very gratifying to be recognized by Sandler O’Neill among such elite companies”
To earn Sm-All Star status, companies needed to have a market cap below $2.5 billion and clear numerous hurdles related to growth, profitability, credit quality, and capital strength. Against industry medians, banks needed to outperform in each of the five metrics outline by Sandler O’Neill in their publication, 2016 Bank & Thrift Sm-All Stars. In addition, qualifying banks must have reported a Net Charge-Off ratio over the last twelve months of less than 25 bps and a Tangible Common Equity ratio of above 7% at 6/30/16. In all, Sandler O’Neill’s screening methodology eliminated 381 institutions, or 93% of banks and thrifts that trade on a major exchange. The performance metrics of the remaining 27 institutions, including WashingtonFirst, were considered outstanding, with the Class of 2016 delivering bottom line results that were markedly better than the industry as a whole.
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