META FINANCIAL GROUP INC Value Stock - Dividend - Research Selection

Meta Financial, a registered unitary savings and loan holding company, was incorporated in Delaware on June 14, 1993, the principal assets of which are all the issued and outstanding shares of the Bank, a federal savings bank, the accounts of which are insured up to applicable limits by the Deposit Insurance Fund (“DIF”) of the FDIC. Unless the context otherwise requires, references herein to the Company include Meta Financial and the Bank, and all subsidiaries of Meta Financial, direct or indirect, on a consolidated basis.

The Bank, a wholly-owned full-service banking subsidiary of Meta Financial, is both a community-oriented financial institution offering a variety of financial services to meet the needs of the communities it serves and a payments company providing services on a nationwide basis, as further described below. The business of the Bank consists of attracting retail deposits from the general public and investing those funds primarily in one-to-four family residential mortgage loans, commercial and multi-family real estate, agricultural operations and real estate, construction, consumer loans (including tax refund advance loans), commercial operating loans, and premium finance loans. In addition to originating loans, the Bank also has contracted to sell loans, in this case principally tax refund advance loans, to third party buyers. The Bank also sells and purchases loan participations from time to time to and from other financial institutions, as well as mortgage-backed securities and other investments permissible under applicable regulations.

In addition to its lending and deposit gathering activities, the Bank’s various divisions issue prepaid cards, design innovative consumer credit products, sponsor Automatic Teller Machines (“ATMs”) into various debit networks, and offer tax refund-transfer services and other payment industry products and services. Through its activities, the Meta Payment Systems (“MPS”) division of the Bank generates both fee income and low- and no cost deposits for the Bank. On September 8, 2015, the Bank purchased substantially all of the assets and related liabilities of Fort Knox Financial Services Corporation and its subsidiary, Tax Product Services, LLC (together “Refund Advantage”). The assets acquired by MetaBank in the acquisition include the Fort Knox operating platform and trade name, Refund Advantage®, and other assets. On November 1, 2016, the Bank purchased substantially all of the assets and certain liabilities of EPS Financial, LLC ("EPS") from privately held Drake Enterprises, Ltd. ("Drake"). The assets acquired by MetaBank in the EPS acquisition include the EPS trade name, operating platform, and other assets. Also, on December 14, 2016, the Bank purchased substantially all of the assets and specified liabilities of privately-held Specialty Consumer Services LP ("SCS") relating to its consumer lending and tax advance business. All of these transactions expanded the Company’s business into providing tax refund-transfer and lending services for its customers.

First Midwest Financial Capital Trust, also a wholly-owned subsidiary of Meta Financial, was established in July 2001 for the purpose of issuing trust preferred securities.

In April 2017, the Company formed a new entity, Meta Capital, LLC, that is a wholly-owned service corporation subsidiary of MetaBank. Meta Capital was formed for the purposes of investing in financial technology companies.

Meta Financial and the Bank are subject to comprehensive regulation and supervision. See “Regulation” herein.

The principal executive office of the Company is located at 5501 South Broadband Lane, Sioux Falls, South Dakota 57108. Its telephone number at that address is (605) 782-1767.

Market Areas

The Bank’s home office is located at 5501 South Broadband Lane, Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The Banking segment consists of the retail bank, the AFS/IBEX division, as well as other specialty finance loans. The retail bank’s locations include offices in Storm Lake, Iowa, Brookings, South Dakota, Sioux Falls, South Dakota and the Des Moines, Iowa area. AFS/IBEX operates an office in both Dallas, Texas and Newport Beach, California. The Payments segment offers prepaid cards, tax refund-transfer services, and other payment industry products and services nationwide and includes the MPS, Refund Advantage, EPS Financial and SCS divisions. It operates out of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, with offices in Louisville, Kentucky, Easton, Pennsylvania and Hurst, Texas.

Lending Activities

The Company originates both fixed-rate and adjustable-rate (“ARM”) loans in response to consumer demand. At September 30, 2017, the Company had $1.12 billion in fixed-rate loans and $205.6 million in ARM loans. See “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” which is included in Item 7 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for further information on Asset/Liability Management.

In addition, the Company has more recently focused its lending activities on the origination of commercial and multi-family real estate loans, one-to-four family mortgage loans, commercial operating loans, premium finance loans, and tax refund advance loans. The Company also continues to originate traditional consumer loans and agricultural-related loans. The Company originates most of its retail bank loans in the primary market areas in Storm Lake, IA, Brookings, SD, Sioux Falls, SD, and Des Moines, IA. At September 30, 2017, the Company’s net loan portfolio totaled $1.32 billion, or 25% of the Company’s total assets, as compared to $919.5 million, or 23%, at September 30, 2016. The Bank recently signed an agreement extension to originate tax refund advance loans to customers of Jackson Hewitt Tax Service through the 2020 tax season. The Bank also purchased two separate student loan portfolios, one in fiscal year 2017 and one in the beginning of fiscal year 2018. The loans included in each of these loan portfolios are serviced by ReliaMax Lending Services, LLC, and the loans are insured by ReliaMax Surety Company.

Loan applications are initially considered and approved at various levels of authority, depending on the type and amount of the loan. The Company has a loan committee consisting of senior lenders and Market Presidents, and is led by the Chief Lending Officer. Loans in excess of certain amounts require approval by at least two members of the loan committee, a majority of the loan committee, or by the Company’s Board Loan Committee, which has responsibility for the overall supervision of the loan portfolio. The Company may discontinue, adjust, or create new lending programs to respond to competitive factors. The Company also created a Specialty Lending committee to oversee its insurance premium finance division and other specialized lending activities in which the Company may become involved. The Committee consists of senior personnel with diverse backgrounds well suited for oversight of these types of activities. Insurance premium finance loans in excess of certain amounts require approval from one or more members of the Committee.

At September 30, 2017, the Company’s largest lending relationship to a single borrower or group of related borrowers totaled $50.8 million. The Company had 24 other lending relationships in excess of $9.1 million as of September 30, 2017. At September 30, 2017, one of these relationships, which had loans that totaled $27.8 million at September 30, 2017, was classified as substandard. See “Non-Performing Assets, Other Loans of Concern, and Classified Assets.”

Loan Portfolio Composition. The following table provides information about the composition of the Company’s loan portfolio in dollar amounts and in percentages as of the dates indicated. In general, for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2017, the aggregate principal amounts in all categories of loans discussed below, except agriculture real estate and agriculture operating loans, increased over levels from the prior fiscal year.

One-to-Four Family Residential Mortgage Lending. One-to-four family residential mortgage loan originations are generated by the Company’s marketing efforts, its present customers, walk-in customers and referrals. The Company offers fixed-rate loans and ARM loans for both permanent structures and those under construction. The Company’s one-to-four family residential mortgage originations are secured primarily by properties located in its primary market area and surrounding areas.

At September 30, 2017, the Company’s one-to-four family residential mortgage loan portfolio totaled $196.7 million, or 14.8% of the Company’s total loans. During the year ended September 30, 2017, the Company originated $21.3 million of adjustable-rate loans and $74.3 million of fixed-rate loans secured by one-to-four family residential real estate. See “Originations, Purchases, Sales and Servicing of Loans and Mortgage-Backed Securities.” As of the same date, the average outstanding principal balance of a one-to-four family residential mortgage loan was approximately $0.2 million.

The Company originates one-to-four family residential mortgage loans with terms up to a maximum of 30 years and with loan-to-value ratios up to 100% of the lesser of the appraised value of the property securing the loan or the contract price. However, the vast majority of these loans are originated with loan-to-value ratios below 80%. The Company generally requires that private mortgage insurance be obtained in an amount sufficient to reduce the Company’s exposure to at or below the 80% loan‑to‑value level. Residential loans generally do not include prepayment penalties. Due to consumer demand, the Company also offers fixed-rate mortgage loans with terms up to 30 years, most of which conform to secondary market standards such as Fannie Mae, Ginnie Mae, and Freddie Mac standards. The Company typically holds all fixed-rate mortgage loans and does not engage in secondary market sales. Interest rates charged on these fixed-rate loans are competitively priced according to market conditions.

The Company currently offers five- and ten-year ARM loans. These loans have a fixed-rate for the stated period and, thereafter, adjust annually. These loans generally provide for an annual cap of up to 200 basis points and a lifetime cap of 600 basis points over the initial rate. As a consequence of using an initial fixed-rate and caps, the interest rates on these loans may not be as rate sensitive as the Company’s cost of funds. The Company’s ARMs do not permit negative amortization of principal and are not convertible into fixed-rate loans. The Company’s delinquency experience on its ARM loans has generally been similar to its experience on fixed-rate residential loans. The current low mortgage interest rate environment makes ARM loans relatively unattractive and very few are currently being originated.

In underwriting one-to-four family residential real estate loans, the Company evaluates both the borrower’s ability to make monthly payments and the value of the property securing the loan. Properties securing real estate loans made by the Company are appraised by independent appraisers approved by the Board of Directors of the Company. The Company generally requires borrowers to obtain an attorney’s title opinion or title insurance, as well as fire and property insurance (including flood insurance, if necessary) in an amount not less than the amount of the loan. Real estate loans originated by the Company generally contain a “due on sale” clause allowing the Company to declare the unpaid principal balance due and payable upon the sale of the security property. The Company has not engaged in sub-prime residential mortgage originations. At September 30, 2017, there were no one-to-four family residential mortgage loans that were non-performing.

Commercial and Multi-Family Real Estate Lending. The Company engages in commercial and multi-family real estate lending in its primary market areas and surrounding areas and, in order to supplement its loan portfolio, has purchased whole loan and participation interests in loans from other financial institutions. The purchased loans and loan participation interests are generally secured by properties located in the Midwest. See “Originations, Purchases, Sales and Servicing of Loans and Mortgage-Backed Securities.”

At September 30, 2017, the Company’s commercial and multi-family real estate loan portfolio totaled $585.5 million, or 44.1%, of the Company’s total loans. At September 30, 2017, the Company’s largest commercial and multi-family real estate lending relationship totaled $47.2 million and was secured by real estate. As of the same date, the average outstanding principal balance of a commercial or multi-family real estate loan held by the Company was approximately $1.8 million.

The Company’s commercial and multi-family real estate loan portfolio is secured primarily by apartment buildings, office buildings, and hotels. Commercial and multi-family real estate loans generally are underwritten with terms not exceeding 20 years, have loan-to-value ratios of up to 80% of the appraised value of the property securing the loan, and are typically secured by guarantees of the borrowers. The Company has a variety of rate adjustment features and other terms in its commercial and multi-family real estate loan portfolio. Commercial and multi-family real estate loans provide for a margin over a number of different indices. In underwriting these loans, the Company analyzes the financial condition of the borrower, the borrower’s credit history, and the reliability and predictability of the cash flow generated by the property securing the loan. Appraisals on properties securing commercial real estate loans originated by the Company are performed by independent appraisers.