State banks' assets up 16% for quarter
Assets at Arkansas' 100 banks rose almost 16 percent in the first quarter compared with the same period last year, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said.
The state's banks had $90.7 billion in assets, compared with $78.4 billion in the first quarter of 2016.
The banks had $60.9 billion in loans, up 18 percent from $51.5 billion in loans in the first quarter last year. Nonperforming assets as a percentage of total assets was 0.9 percent for the first quarter, down from 1.1 percent in the first quarter last year.
Total deposits were $73.5 billion in the first quarter, up more than 15 percent from $63.6 billion in the same period last year. The Little Rock metropolitan statistical area had $18.9 billion in assets, almost twice the $9.6 billion in deposits in Northwest Arkansas.
There were 104 banks in the state in the first quarter last year.
-- David Smith
Waltons sell shares, netting $256 million
Members of the Walton family continued to dispose of shares of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. stock earlier this week, selling about 3.2 million in multiple transactions out of a trust established in 2015.
The transactions took place over a two-day period, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and netted about $256.2 million. Walton family members have sold nearly 10.9 million shares out of the trust for about $857.2 million since May 22.
The trust was established by Walton Enterprises LLC to help offset potential increases beyond the 50 percent ownership level the family tries to maintain in Wal-Mart stock. The Walton family also has said it intends to use some of the shares from the trust to fund charitable contributions.
The Walton family put 194 million shares -- or about 6 percent of Wal-Mart's outstanding shares -- into the trust. There are about 120.3 million remaining after the recent transactions.
-- Robbie Neiswanger
Index rises to 330.46 as most issues gain
The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, rose 4.23 to 330.46 Thursday.
"Equities closed higher with financials outperforming as four of the top five performing stocks in the Arkansas Index were represented by Arkansas banks," said Leon Lants, managing director at Stephens Inc. in Little Rock.
All but three Arkansas stocks gained ground Thursday.
Total volume for the index was 27.5 million shares.
The index was developed by Bloomberg News and the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette with a base value of 100 as of Dec. 30, 1997.
Business on 06/09/2017