Analyzing First Community Bankshares (NASDAQ:FCBC) and West Coast Community Bancorp (OTCMKTS:SCZC)

West Coast Community Bancorp (OTCMKTS:SCZC) and First Community Bankshares (NASDAQ:FCBC) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, profitability, institutional ownership, dividends, earnings, valuation and risk.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

9.7% of West Coast Community Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 35.0% of First Community Bankshares shares are held by institutional investors. 3.7% of First Community Bankshares shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for West Coast Community Bancorp and First Community Bankshares, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
West Coast Community Bancorp	0	0	0	0	0.00
First Community Bankshares	0	1	0	0	2.00

First Community Bankshares has a consensus price target of $38.00, indicating a potential downside of 2.36%. Given First Community Bankshares’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe First Community Bankshares is more favorable than West Coast Community Bancorp.

Profitability

This table compares West Coast Community Bancorp and First Community Bankshares’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
West Coast Community Bancorp	23.91%	N/A	N/A
First Community Bankshares	27.81%	10.35%	1.64%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares West Coast Community Bancorp and First Community Bankshares”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
West Coast Community Bancorp	$123.69 million	3.29	$29.58 million	$3.39	11.33
First Community Bankshares	$156.22 million	4.57	$51.60 million	$2.84	13.70

First Community Bankshares has higher revenue and earnings than West Coast Community Bancorp. West Coast Community Bancorp is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than First Community Bankshares, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility and Risk

West Coast Community Bancorp has a beta of 0.55, meaning that its share price is 45% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, First Community Bankshares has a beta of 0.52, meaning that its share price is 48% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

West Coast Community Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.76 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.0%. First Community Bankshares pays an annual dividend of $1.24 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.2%. West Coast Community Bancorp pays out 22.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. First Community Bankshares pays out 43.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. First Community Bankshares has increased its dividend for 13 consecutive years. First Community Bankshares is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Summary

First Community Bankshares beats West Coast Community Bancorp on 13 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About West Coast Community Bancorp

West Coast Community Bancorp operates as the bank holding company for Santa Cruz County Bank that provides a range of commercial and personal banking services to residents and businesses in the United States. It offers checking, savings, money market, certificate of deposits, and health savings accounts; and individual retirement account and retirement plans. The company also provides lending products, including real estate commercial property, construction, asset-based, lines of credit, SBA loans, 504 loan program, business and industry, farm services agency, agricultural, and wine industry lending. In addition, it provides debit and credit cards, merchant services, online and mobile banking, remote deposit services, wire and ACH manager, treasury management, payment, and cash management services. West Coast Community Bancorp was founded in 2004 and is headquartered in Santa Cruz, California.

About First Community Bankshares

First Community Bankshares, Inc. operates as the financial holding company for First Community Bank that provides various banking products and services. It offers demand deposit accounts, savings and money market accounts, certificates of deposit, and individual retirement plans; and commercial, consumer real estate, and consumer and other loans. The company also provides trust management, estate administration, and investment advisory services; and investment management services. It serves individuals and businesses across various industries, such as education, government, and health services; coal mining and gas extraction; retail trade; construction; manufacturing; tourism; and transportation. The company operates through branches in West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, and Tennessee. Community Bankshares, Inc. was founded in 1874 and is headquartered in Bluefield, Virginia.