Amidst turmoil in the financial sector this week and over the past year, the following is a list of Pennsylvania-based banks and financial services companies with market caps over $100M that have recorded stock price gains over the past year. The 11 companies are listed in descending order by 52-week stock price performance and include the following top performers: Univest – biggest gainer at 38%, First Commonwealth (which I wrote about 15 months ago with a yield over 6%) – biggest dividend yield at 5.4%, and PNC Financial – biggest market cap at $25.3B. With Dow component American International Group (AIG) down over 30% today and other blow-ups this week such as Lehman Brothers (LEH) and Washington Mutual (WM); the strength in these Keystone State banks is notable and reflects investor confidence in their management and business fundamentals.

Company Name (Ticker)
52-Week Change, Market Cap, Dividend Yield

Univest Corp. of PA (UVSP)
+38.0% $380M 2.7%

Beneficial Mutual Bancorp (BNCL)
+27.9% $991M 0%

Republic First Bancorp (FRBK)
+23.2% $108M 0%

Citizens & Northern Corp. (CZNC)
+21.4% $197M 4.4%

First Commonwealth Financial (FCF)
+15.7% $924M 5.4%

Bryn Mawr Bank Corp. (BMTC)
+6.7% $199M 2.4%

PNC Financial Services (PNC)
+6.6% $25.3B 3.6%

Abington Bancorp (ABBC)
+6.5% $248M 2.0%

S&T Bancorp (STBA)
+3.5% $954M 3.6%

ESB Financial Corp. (ESBF)
+2.9% $126M 3.9%

Northwest Bancorp (NWSB)
+1.7% $1.4B 3.1%