Medford’s Century Bancorp Inc., the parent company of Century Bank and Trust Co., has announced it has been selected as one of the top performing small-cap banks in the country.

Century Bancorp is one of 30 institutions honored by Sandler O’Neill + Partners as "2009 Bank & Thrift Sm-All Stars." The winners were chosen from a group of 509 publicly traded banks and thrifts nationwide with market capitalizations of less than $2 billion.

According to Sandler O’Neill + Partners, the Class of 2009 "Sm-All Stars" has been identified as the next crop of leading mid-cap banks and thrifts "before they are discovered by the rest of the world."

By focusing on the institutions’ growth, profitability, credit quality and capital strength, Sandler O’Neill + Partners identified the banks and thrifts, as "outstanding institutions delivering bottom line results that are markedly better than the industry as a whole."

The Sandler O’Neill + Partners survey analyzed growth, profitability, credit quality and capital strength.