Brooke stock takes a dip

Brooke Corp.'s stock price fell as much as 17.8 percent Wednesday, to a low of $1.71 a share.

tock in the Overland Park-based company (Nasdaq: BXXX) closed on Wednesday at $1.96, down 12 cents, or 5.8 percent, on volume of about 152,700 shares, according to Yahoo Finance. The stock's average daily volume the past three months is about 53,000 shares.

On April 10, Brooke Holdings Inc. -- Brooke Corp.'s majority shareholder -- bought 62,600 shares of Brooke Corp. stock, which closed on that day at $2.43.

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Since Jan. 1, Brooke Holdings has bought 270,588 shares of Brooke Corp.

Brooke Corp. CEO Robert Orr said in an interview Wednesday that Brook Holdings' purchases of Brooke Corp. stock since Jan. 1 haven't been aimed at bolstering the stock's price.

"We just believe that the stock is attractively valued," Orr said.

Brooke Corp. has $422 million in assets and $305 million in liabilities, Orr said. The liabilities include $156 million in debt, he said.

On March 17, the company reported a loss of $7.26 million, or 56 cents a share, for the fourth quarter, which ended Dec. 31. This compared with earnings of $1.69 million, or 8 cents a share, the prior year.

Revenue for the quarter was $39.3 million, down 5.5 percent from $41.6 million the prior year.

For all of 2007, the company reported earnings of $1.6 million, down from $10.7 million in 2006. Revenue for the year was $214 million, up 21 percent from $177.1 million in 2006.

On March 17, Brooke's stock closed at $3.64.

Brooke Corp. owns all of Brooke Savings Bank; 81 percent of Brooke Capital Corp. (AMEX: BCP), an insurance company and insurance agency; and 62 percent of Aleritas Capital Corp., a finance company specializing in insurance lending.