Idaho Independent Bank is an OTCBB Financial Penny Stock that Deserves a Second Look

This stock is worth taking a look at for many reasons. First of all it is an affordable penny stock that does not trade for mere pennies but hovers around several dollars a share at a time. The second is that this stock is available at a discounted rate if bought using the direct stock purchase plan. Finally, it is completely neglected and hardly shows up in the news media or in any form of investment analysis. This is why I am writing about it today to help you learn more about this company and find it is right for you.

Idaho Independent Bank was first formed in October of 1993 in Coeur D’Alene Idaho. Management feels it was the right decision after years of mergers in Idaho all but eliminated community small banks. They felt a void in customer service in small towns and communities of Idaho.

The Idaho bank has a market cap of just under $20 million so in most comparisons they are a small company with an average trading volume of only 3, 000 shares a day. The latest fillings from the company on May 8 provide a $486,000 loss or $0.06 per share compared to a $956,000 loss or $0.15 per share last year for the same quarter.

You may have noticed how difficult it is to get information on Idaho Independent Bank. This is because it is listed on the OTCBB (Over the Counter Bulletin Board). This may be for a number of reasons; the stock price fell too low at one point, market cap became too small, corporate governance cease to exist, etc.

Searching through news records since 2004 Idaho Independent Bank has been listed OTCBB. However during that period they have been involved in several buy backs, stock splits and even dividend hikes. Yes, this is a dividend paying micro cap stock listed on the OTCBB. I bet you cannot find too many more of those!

My gut instinct was to disregard IIB because of its OTCBB listing. However, these listing still require filling with the SEC. Not too many OTCBB has regulations of its own, although meant to help small or hurting stocks it is still legitimate. The only concern for a short term investor would be price manipulation through daily trading volume. Because there are such a small number of shares available and because they trade at such an affordable price it could become easy for investors to buy or dump shares in such a large number as to affect the share price dramatically. This is true of almost all penny stocks and those that trade OTCBB or on the Pink Sheets.

Is Idaho Independent Bank worth investing in? It’s hard to say. The stock is affordably priced and quite neglected. It does have potential for an upsurge in growth through any one of its community banks in a growing region of Idaho, near the Bakken oil reserves. However the company has a small market cap, is a micro cap stock and is currently losing money. Take a look at the direct stock purchase plan that only requires $150 as an initial investment and see if it is right for you.

Tagged bank, direct stock purchase plan, distressed, dspp, financial, Idaho, otc bb, Penny Stock, small-cap