Two local banks see their stocks fall

Officials at two local banks are expecting better days ahead after suffering through a stock sell-off Friday that sent shares plummeting in value.

Prices for United Community Financial Corp. and First Place Financial Corp. fell about 20 percent after the stocks were removed from the Russell 3000 index of the nation’s largest companies.

The drops added more misery to what’s been a miserable year for the bank holding companies. The stock prices of both companies are down nearly 80 percent from their highs of the past year as the nation has been gripped by a recession and credit crisis.

Friday’s hit came as large institutional investors, such as mutual funds and retirement funds, were forced to sell their holdings in both local companies, bank executives said. The rules of these institutional investors require them to invest only in Russell 3000 companies.

For more information, see Tuesday’s Vindicator or www.vindy.com.