Price momentum continued for U.S. bank stocks in November, particularly for the larger institutions. All but one of the top 40 public U.S. banks by market capitalization — Kansas City, Mo.-based Commerce Bancshares Inc. — recorded a positive total return last month.

The market-cap-weighted SNL U.S. Bank and Thrift index appreciated 5.4% in November, outpacing the S&P 500's 3.6% total return. The median monthly return for the 320 banks in the S&P Global Market Intelligence analysis was 2.9%.

Memphis, Tenn.-based First Horizon National Corp. and Lafayette, La.-based IBERIABANK Corp. are combining in a merger of equals , announced Nov. 4. During the last year, First Horizon has traded at a premium to the industry median in terms of price-to-adjusted tangible book value. In contrast, IBERIABANK's pricing ratio essentially mirrored that of the industry from November 2018 to September 2019. Since then, IBERIABANK has traded at a discount.

New to the bottom-25 valuation list in November were Costa Mesa, Calif.-based Pacific Mercantile Bancorp; Uniondale, N.Y.-based Flushing Financial Corp.; Hamilton, N.J.-based First Bank; Brockton, Mass.-based HarborOne Bancorp Inc., which completed a second-stage mutual bank conversion in August; and Short Hills, N.J.-based Investors Bancorp Inc.

Exiting the list were Santa Ana, Calif.-based Banc of California Inc.; Coral Gables, Fla.-based Amerant Bancorp Inc.; Louisville, Ky.-based Limestone Bancorp Inc.; Bayonne, N.J.-based BCB Bancorp Inc.; and Seattle-based HomeStreet Inc.

Click here to see S&P Global Market Intelligence's calculations for price-to-adjusted tangible book value as of Nov. 29, 2019.