Renamed bank now Bear State Financial
First Federal Bancshares of Arkansas has changed its name to Bear State Financial Inc., the Harrision-based bank said Tuesday in a filing with the federal Securities and Exchange Commission.
The ticker symbol for the bank will change to BSF. The bank’s stock will continue to be traded on the Nasdaq exchange.
The bank also increased the number of authorized shares from 30 million to 100 million.
The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis also approved the bank’s purchase of First National Security Co. of Hot Springs, which owns First National Bank of Hot Springs and Heritage Bank of Jonesboro.
— David Smith
AT&T bolsters tech in UA, LR stadiums
AT&T said Tuesday it beefed up its mobile Internet coverage at Bud Walton Arena in time for the 2014 Wal-Mart Shareholders’ Meeting, which is Friday. In addition, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. launched a mobile app called Walmart Events, with the first event being this year’s annual meeting.
Together, the technology improvements will all but guarantee the 14,000 people expected to attend the meeting will be sharing the entertainment aspects and company announcements with many more people around the world. Wal-Mart is in 27 countries outside the United States and has representatives from all countries attending the meeting.
To solve the problem, AT&T employed a Distributed Antenna System (DAS) to enhance the communication provider’s 4G LTE network throughout the University of Arkansas’ basketball arena, as well as Reynolds Razorback Stadium and War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock. The DAS networks are designed to increase mobile broadband coverage in heavily trafficked areas.
— Cyd King
State index sheds 2.25; PAM gains
The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, dropped 2.25 to 343.97 Tuesday.
“The major market indexes fell slightly as investors moved to the sidelines after the recent string of record highs,” said Bob Williams, senior vice president and managing director of Delta Trust Investments Inc. in Little Rock. “Locally, small-cap stocks saw the greatest volatility with PAM Transport shares gaining 1.16 percent on above-average volume. Bear State Financial, formerly First Federal Bancshares, fell just over 9 percent on minuscule volume.”
The index was developed by Bloomberg News and the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette with a base value of 100 as of Dec. 30, 1997.