Umpqua Holdings Revisited: Situation Stable

Almost five months after writing about Umpqua Holdings (UMPQ) in a section of the February investment newsletter titled Umpqua Holdings: Can the free cookies last?, I have decided to make the leap and add Umpqua Holdings to our model portfolio.

Like the rest of the financial sector, and especially regional banks, in recent weeks, the stock has taken a hard hit. The stock is now down over 28% from when we added it to our watchlist on February 1st at a price of $17, and down more than 50% from its 52 week high of $24.80. The weakness in the housing sector is far from over and we may be at the brink of a bear market, but things appear to be stabilizing at Umpqua.