Flagstar Bancorp Shares Plunged: What You Need to Know

Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.

What: Shares of Flagstar Bancorp (NYS: FBC) sank 12% Wednesday after its quarterly loss came in wider than Wall Street expected.

So what: Driven by continued credit losses associated with its legacy balance sheet, Flagstar posted a second-quarter loss of $78.9 million, or $0.14 per share, versus the average analyst estimate of only a $0.04-per-share loss. Management also announced it is selling 27 Atlanta branches to PNC Financial Services (NYS: PNC) ; given the plunge in Flagstar shares, it's obvious Mr. Market isn't thrilled with the book value sale price ($42 million).

Now what: I'd continue to stay on the sidelines at this point. Although Flagstar's sale of the Atlanta branches will allow it to focus on its major markets, the company's highly volatile shares and continued string of loan-related losses make it a questionable pick for conservative, buy-and-hold types. Of course, with a price-to-book ratio of just 0.7, more enterprising bargain hunters might want to at least take a look.

Interested in more info on Flagstar?Add it to your watchlist.

At the time thisarticle was published Fool contributorBrian Pacamparaowns no position in any of the companies mentioned. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days.We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Fool'sdisclosure policyalways gets a perfect score.

Copyright © 1995 - 2011 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.