Overview

* Western New England Bancorp ( WNEB ) Q2 net income rises 30.7% yr/yr to $4.6 mln

* Net interest income up 21.9%, net interest margin improves to 2.80%

* Company repurchased 290,609 shares under 2025 plan

Outlook

* Company focuses on loan growth and reducing reliance on time deposits

* Company aims to expand net interest margins through managing funding costs

Result Drivers

* LOAN GROWTH - Co reports increase in commercial and industrial loans by $22.8 mln, or 10.8%, and residential real estate loans by $29.7 mln, or 3.8%

* DEPOSIT STRATEGY - Core deposits rose $81.4 mln, or 5.2% since year-end

* NET INTEREST MARGIN - Net interest margin improved to 2.80%, driven by higher interest income and lower interest expenses

Key Details

Metric Beat/Mis Actual Consensu

s s

Estimate

Q2 EPS $0.23

Q2 Net $4.60

Income mln

Q2 Net $17.60

Interest mln

Income

Q2 $0.07

Dividend

Q2 Net 2.8%

Interest

Margin

Analyst Coverage

* The current average analyst rating on the shares is "hold" and the breakdown of recommendations is 1 "strong buy" or "buy", 2 "hold" and no "sell" or "strong sell"

* The average consensus recommendation for the banks peer group is "buy."

* Wall Street's median 12-month price target for Western New England Bancorp Inc ( WNEB ) is $10.00, about 0.4% below its July 21 closing price of $10.04

* The stock recently traded at 15 times the next 12-month earnings vs. a P/E of 15 three months ago

Press Release:

(This story was created using Reuters automation and AI based on LSEG and company data. It was checked and edited by a Reuters journalist prior to publication.)