Bear State earnings nearly double in 4Q

Bear State Financial earned $ 4.8 million in the fourth quarter last year, up from $ 2.6 million in the same period of 2015, the Little Rock bank said Thursday.

Bear State earned 13 cents a share, almost double the 7 cents a share made in the fourth quarter of 2015.

For all of 2016, Bear State had net income of $ 10.6 million or 30 cents a share.

The bank reported $ 2.1 billion in assets at the end of the year, compared with $ 1.9 billion at the end of 2015.

Bear State had total loans of $ 1.6 billion and total deposits of $ 1.6 billion.

Bear State has 48 branches and three loan offices in Arkansas, Missouri and Oklahoma.

— David Smith