Stonegate cheers trading

Stonegate Bank has been marching up the Gulf Coast, snapping up banks from Naples to Fort Myers, Sarasota and Tampa, including Florida Shores Bancorp in January 2014.

Now, the Pompano Beach-based bank will have more ammunition for its acquisitions with the listing of its stock on the Nasdaq stock market. The bank's stock started trading on the Nasdaq market on May 28, 2014, under the symbol SGBK (recent price: $28) and executives rang the market's closing bell last week to celebrate the listing.

Stonegate's CEO, Dave Seleski, has been scouting opportunities on the Gulf Coast during the last six years. He started in Naples in 2009 with the acquisition of Partners Bank, the 100th bank to fail in the financial crisis. Stonegate was formed in 2005 and the Nasdaq listing comes on its 10th anniversary.