ACNB (NASDAQ:ACNB) & Private Bancorp of America (OTCMKTS:PBAM) Critical Analysis

ACNB (NASDAQ:ACNB) and Private Bancorp of America (OTCMKTS:PBAM) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, analyst recommendations, earnings, institutional ownership, dividends, valuation and risk.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares ACNB and Private Bancorp of America”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
ACNB	$132.20 million	3.54	$31.85 million	$2.90	15.42
Private Bancorp of America	$161.24 million	1.98	$35.82 million	$6.60	8.33

Private Bancorp of America has higher revenue and earnings than ACNB. Private Bancorp of America is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than ACNB, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

32.4% of ACNB shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 13.5% of Private Bancorp of America shares are held by institutional investors. 3.5% of ACNB shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility & Risk

ACNB has a beta of 0.84, indicating that its stock price is 16% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Private Bancorp of America has a beta of 0.27, indicating that its stock price is 73% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares ACNB and Private Bancorp of America’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
ACNB	17.22%	10.95%	1.34%
Private Bancorp of America	23.11%	17.54%	1.60%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations for ACNB and Private Bancorp of America, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
ACNB	0	0	4	0	3.00
Private Bancorp of America	0	0	1	1	3.50

ACNB currently has a consensus target price of $48.40, suggesting a potential upside of 8.24%. Private Bancorp of America has a consensus target price of $60.50, suggesting a potential upside of 10.00%. Given Private Bancorp of America’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Private Bancorp of America is more favorable than ACNB.

Summary

Private Bancorp of America beats ACNB on 9 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About ACNB

ACNB Corporation, a financial holding company, offers banking, insurance, and financial services to individual, business, and government customers in the United States. The company provides checking, savings, and money market deposit accounts, as well as time deposits and debit cards. It also offers commercial lending products, such as commercial mortgages, real estate development and construction loans, accounts receivable and inventory financing, and agricultural and governmental loans; consumer lending products, including home equity loans and lines of credit, automobile and recreational vehicle loans, manufactured housing loans, and personal lines of credit; and mortgage lending programs include personal residential mortgages, and residential construction and investment mortgage loans. In addition, the company provides other services that are related to testamentary trusts, life insurance trusts, charitable remainder trusts, guardianships, powers of attorney, custodial accounts, and investment management and advisory accounts; and retail brokerage services. Further, it acts as a trustee to invest in, protect, manage, and distribute financial assets. Additionally, the company offers property and casualty, health, life, and disability insurance products to commercial and personal clients; and online, telephone, and mobile banking, as well as automated teller machine services. ACNB Corporation was founded in 1857 and is headquartered in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

About Private Bancorp of America

Private Bancorp of America, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for CalPrivate Bank that provides banking products and services to individuals and businesses in California. The company offers checking and savings, money market, certificate of deposit, sweep, zero balance, and individual retirement accounts; unsecured lines of credit, personal credit lines, and term loans; additional services, such as direct deposits, online banking, ATM and debit cards, credit cards, savings/line of credit overdraft protection, and safe deposit boxes; and certificate of deposit account registry services. It also provides treasury management, merchant card, bill pay, positive pay, e-statement, remote deposit capture, ACH origination, wire transfer, electronic payments and collections, electronic check acceptance, account reconciliation, cash vault, and gift and business credit cards, as well as funds management services. In addition, the company offers term credit facilities and loans, equipment and business expansion loans, working capital lines of credit, commercial real estate financing, construction financing, letters of credit, business start-up loans, loans for business acquisition and partner buyouts, owner-occupied commercial real estate loans, equipment, furniture and fixture, and other loans; and CDARS And ICS products. Further, it provides wealth management and legal services. The company has offices in La Jolla, San Diego, Coronado, Newport Beach, Beverly Hills, El Segundo, Temecula, Mission Valley, and Redlands. Private Bancorp of America, Inc. was founded in 2006 and is headquartered in La Jolla, California.