Rock Financial on the Rise

Rock Financial Corp., Bingham Farms, one of Michigan's largest non-depository mortgage banking firms, has seen its stock rise recently amid takeover speculation.Last Thursday, Rock's shares hit a new high, $15.47, before falling back a bit. Monday morning's high was almost $13. Company chief executive Dan Gilbert told MortgageWire there have been no major announcements concerning the company. "I guess it's just a case of there being more buyers than sellers," he said. However, Rock's production is 100% retail, and retail franchises are currently hot commodities in the mortgage industry. When asked if the 30-branch company might be a takeover target, Mr. Gilbert declined to comment. "We don't comment on speculation," he said. Roughly 85% of its production is government/conventional, with subprime accounting for the balance. The company's 52-week low is $3.75. Rock's stock suffered with the rest of the market this past fall. "We were painted with the same brush as the subprime firms even though we're not subprime," said Mr. Gilbert.