Paul Davis

Short sellers tend to go against the tide, making investments based on a belief that a stock is going to tank. These 10 banks have drawn the greatest amount of short-interest activity recently.

A judge in North Carolina granted a request by First Citizens to block KS Bancorp from enacting a shareholder rights plan.

The company will also sell $58 million in deposits to West Gate Bank.

The $6 million acquisition will add four businesses with a total of $700 million in assets under management.

Gulfside Bank, which would be based in Sarasota, is angling to become southwest Florida's first new bank in a decade.

Organizers want to open the first new bank in Michigan since 2009, while a third group in Florida has filed a de novo application.

Park National, which came to regret its acquisition of a Florida bank just before the financial crisis, took more than a year to vet NewDominion before making an offer.

The company's deal for Coastway Bancorp in Rhode Island makes sense since both institutions are former credit unions.

Organizers in Winston-Salem are planning to raise at least $25 million to form Community Bank of the Carolinas.

The company has agreed to buy United Community Bancorp. With the $114 million deal it would add five branches in the Cincinnati area.

KS Bancorp disclosed in a legal filing that an takeover effort by First Citizens is spooking lenders and prompting prospects to delay and cancel plans to move deposits and lending relationships.

The mutual has agreed to buy Cape Ann Insurance, which specializes in personal insurance products.

The company has agreed to pay $89 million for Premier Commercial Bancorp. The acquisition would significantly increase its branch presence and lending in the Portland area.

Sterling would gain $458 million in loans and an origination platform by acquiring Advantage Funding Management.

OP Bancorp in Los Angeles aims to raise $20 million to fund organic growth and acquisitions.

Juniata Valley Financial used a combination of patience and guile to land a hard-to-get Pennsylvania bank after wooing it for more than a decade.

The issue had forced the Los Angeles company to scuttle its deal to acquire U&I Financial in Washington state.

Great Western is looking to hire a president to give CEO Ken Karels more time to focus on leadership and growth initiatives.

Parkway Acquisition in Virginia has agreed to buy Great State Bank for nearly $15 million.

The Seattle company first disclosed an issue in September, when it withdrew an application to buy Anchor Bancorp.