This post is part of a series featuring bargain stocks that are worth a look now. See more Cheap Stocks.
If you had to judge solely by its year-to-date price action, you would probably never guess that Hudson City Bancorp (NASDAQ: HCBK) is, well, a bank. The shares are currently holding onto a year-to-date gain, and they're thriving for good reason. Paramus, New Jersey-based HCBK is feeling so flush, it recently rejected the opportunity to rake in some of the government's TARP funds.
In a statement accompanying the news, Chairman, CEO, and President Ronald Hermance Jr. explained how Hudson City has endured the financial crisis: "We have never offered subprime mortgages ... or other risky mortgage products. We do not sell any of our loan production to the secondary market. We keep all of our loans in portfolio. As a result, we have not been seriously affected by conditions in the marketplace."
Honestly, Hudson City Bancorp seems to be operating in its own economy independent from the rest of the U.S. Check out some of the figures the bank holding company reported on October 15 in its second-quarter earnings release: profit jumped 64% to hit a record 25 cents per share, one cent higher than analysts expected; through September 30, year-to-date deposits added $2.14 billion to $17.29 billion, while total year-to-date assets rose by $7.35 billion to $51.77 billion; and HCBK reported that it's actually writing more mortgages now than it was last year.
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