For the second consecutive month, Customers Bancorp Inc. was the least expensive US bank stock by price-to-estimated 2024 earnings per share.

As of Jan. 16, the company's price-to-estimated EPS multiple stood at 7.4x, according to an S&P Global Market Intelligence analysis. The industry median for the 123 institutions in this analysis was 10.6x.

S&P Global Market Intelligence analyzed the price-to-estimated earnings multiples for US banks. To be included in this analysis, a company needs to have at least four analyst-normalized EPS estimates available for calendar year 2024. In addition, the bottom 20% of banks by price to tangible book were excluded.

NewtekOne Inc. was the second-cheapest valued bank stock with a multiple of 7.65x, followed by Old Second Bancorp Inc. at 7.69x.

Earlier this month, Raymond James analyst David Long downgraded Old Second to "outperform" from "strong buy" with a price target of $18, saying the near-term positive catalyst of higher interest rates is gone.

"We believe a lower interest rate environment may lead to outsized contraction in its net interest margin without receiving much benefit from declining [accumulated other comprehensive income] losses relative to peers," Long wrote in a Jan. 5 report.

Civista Bancshares Inc. took the 4th spot as it traded at 7.70x its estimated EPS. Bank OZK landed in the 5th position, trading at 7.71x its estimated EPS through mid-January.

On Jan. 5, Wells Fargo Securities analyst Timur Braziler downgraded Bank OZK to "underweight" from "equal weight," saying the company is over-earning its balance sheet. Meanwhile, Raymond James analyst Michael Rose upgraded Bank OZK to "outperform" from "market perform," reflecting "an improving risk-reward dynamic should a soft landing or mild recession play out and at least a few rate cuts occur this year."

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Western Alliance Bancorp. also landed high on the list with a multiple of 7.8x. The company is a popular mid-cap 2024 top pick among sell-siders as it received nods from Piper Sandler, Bank of America, Stephens and Wedbush Securities.

Two banks engaged in M&A deals, Central Valley Community Bancorp and Old National Bancorp, are also cheaply valued, with multiples of 8.7x and 8.8x, respectively. Central Valley Community signed a deal to acquire Community West Bancshares, while Old National will acquire CapStar Financial Holdings Inc.

Richly valued bank stocks

Triumph Financial Inc. was the most expensive bank stock in this analysis as it traded at 36.5x its estimated EPS as of mid-January. Glacier Bancorp Inc. ranked second with a multiple of 21.5x.

Hilltop Holdings Inc. and Independent Bank Group Inc. also landed in the top 10 with multiples of 21.0x and 16.6x, respectively.

In early January, Raymond James analyst Michael Rose upgraded Hilltop Holdings to "market perform" from "underperform" and Independent Bank Group to "outperform" from "market perform."

Returns

Only one of the three least expensive bank stocks logged a positive return in the last 12 months. That stock was Customers Bancorp, which posted a return of 73.2%.

Two of the three most expensive stocks booked positive returns, including Triumph Financial, the most richly valued stock, which returned 41.9%.

Meanwhile, the S&P 500 returned 21.1%, but the S&P US BMI Banks index returned negative 0.5%.