Mention the “B” word as a viable investment path in this time of great hand-wringing on Capitol Hill and Wall Street, and some might gasp, shake their heads and run away. That word is banks.

Is it time to call the exorcist to oust those demonic thoughts? Not necessarily, because digging beneath the doom-and-gloom headlines of catastrophic failures and loan losses, some financial-services companies are chugging along quite nicely. 

SCBT Financial Corp. (Nasdaq:SCBT), which primarily operates as South Carolina Bank and Trust, appears to have escaped a drenching from the bloodbath. The 75-year-old Columbia, S.C., company operates 50 Carolinas branches.

SCBT’s philosophy is typical of banks that have not been pulled under by the meltdown: know your market, keep the customer satisfied and stick to what has kept you in business. Over the past three months, its share price has risen 26%, and is up 14% year to date. Amid the turmoil, SCBT hit a 52-week high of $45.24 on Sept. 19, contrasted to a July 15 low of $26.25. The stock closed Monday at $36.16.

Analysts who follow SCBT have expressed positive comments. In a Sept. 23 clients’ note, SunTrust Robinson Humphrey’s Mac Hodgson said, “We continue to recommend SCBT as a small-cap stock we want to own long term because it is a standout in terms of credit quality and growth opportunities.” Hodgson has a “buy” rating and a $38 price target, noting “SCBT is among a select few banks that has been able to consistently deliver pristine asset quality and earnings growth … .”

Fig Partners managing principal and director of research Christopher Marinac, who has had SCBT at “outperform,” noted in a report that he’s expecting an earnings uptick this year and next because of “the opportunity and ability of SCBT to . . .

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