It has little exposure to tech startups and cryptocurrencies. The market capitalization is only about ~$386 million.Īrrow is attractive because it is far from Silicon Valley and makes money the old-fashioned way off the net interest margin.

The bank is a small community bank operating in upstate New York. Arrow operates through subsidiaries, including Glens Falls National Bank and Trust Company, Saratoga National Bank and Trust Company, and Upstate Agency. The Arrow Financial Corporation is a bank holding company offering consumer and commercial banking, wealth management, and insurance. Lastly, we look at the asset and loan quality.We also require the banks to operate in different geographic regions.To further narrow the list down, we add two more criteria. A Dividend Quality Grade of B or higher.A price-to-earnings ratio (P/E ratio) less than 15X, below the value of the S&P 500 Index.A 10-year or more dividend growth streak.In our analysis, we look at three initial criteria in a screener. The four bank stocks the market has punished but are solid choices are Arrow Financial ( AROW), Bank of Marin ( BMRC), First of Long Island ( FLIC), and Washington Trust ( WASH). Some regional and smaller community banks are valued like the worst months of the COVID-19 pandemic and even lower. As a result, early 2023 is an opportunity for investors to gain exposure to banks at low valuations and high dividend yields. Even regional banks with better asset and loan quality were sold off. However, they were indiscriminate, selling good bank stocks with little exposure to cryptocurrency and tech startups. The turmoil in the banking sector caused retail and institutional investors to sell almost all financial stocks.

Hero Images Inc/DigitalVision via Getty Images

Western finance weslaco