New York Community Bancorp (NYCB.N) held its position as the cheapest U.S. bank stock among lenders with over $3 billion in assets for the second consecutive month, according to an analysis by S&P Global Market Intelligence on Wednesday. The bank’s valuation based on adjusted tangible book value (TBV) revealed that as of April 30, the struggling lender was trading at 30% of the metric, which indicates the per-share value of its equity after excluding its intangible assets.
NYCB has faced difficulties in stabilizing its stock performance since January, when it cut its dividend and reported a surprising quarterly loss linked to its loan exposure to distressed commercial real estate. The bank’s shares have plummeted 64% so far this year, trading at levels not seen since 1996. Last week, the lender reported a first-quarter loss and announced it will post a much larger annual loss than estimated due to higher provisions for potential loan loss. Ratings agencies have issued a series of downgrades for the bank since January, with the latest by Fitch marking its third credit rating downgrade, causing its stock to drop 4% on Wednesday.