Guaranty Bank crosses $1B in assets

Guaranty Federal Bancshares Inc. (Nasdaq: GFED) hit its goal of $1 billion in assets during the third quarter.

The benchmark was highlighted in Guaranty Bank’s quarterly earnings news release.

“We are excited to have achieved a significant milestone in the 106-year history of the company,” Guaranty President and CEO Shaun Burke said in the release, pointing to a corporate strategy implemented in 2015 to improve the company’s financials and modernize its facilities, among other initiatives. “We were confident that these priorities would make the bank stronger from a financial standpoint and would result in the growth we are witnessing today.”

While assets were up, net income was down in the third quarter. Officials cited $2.7 million in loan accretion income that positively impacted the same quarter last year —following the April 2018 acquisition of Carthage-based Hometown Bancshares Inc.

Third quarter financial notes for Guaranty Bank:
• Net income available to common shareholders fell 35% to $2.6 million. Diluted share earnings dropped to 57 cents from 88 cents a year earlier.
• The company repurchased 90,268 of its shares at an average price of $23.84 per share, for an investment of roughly $2.2 million.
• Provision for loan losses dropped by half to $100,000.

GFED shares were trading at $24.98 as of 10:17 a.m., compared with a 52-week range of $20.11 to $25.40.