Comparing Midland States Bancorp (NASDAQ:MSBI) & Bank First National (NASDAQ:BFC)

Bank First National (NASDAQ:BFC) and Midland States Bancorp (NASDAQ:MSBI) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, profitability, risk, valuation, earnings, institutional ownership and dividends.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

30.0% of Bank First National shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 60.9% of Midland States Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. 4.1% of Bank First National shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 5.3% of Midland States Bancorp shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility & Risk

Bank First National has a beta of 0.41, suggesting that its stock price is 59% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Midland States Bancorp has a beta of 0.77, suggesting that its stock price is 23% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Bank First National and Midland States Bancorp, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Bank First National	0	1	1	0	2.50
Midland States Bancorp	0	3	0	0	2.00

Bank First National presently has a consensus price target of $133.50, suggesting a potential upside of 13.21%. Midland States Bancorp has a consensus price target of $20.6667, suggesting a potential upside of 23.53%. Given Midland States Bancorp’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Midland States Bancorp is more favorable than Bank First National.

Dividends

Bank First National pays an annual dividend of $1.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.5%. Midland States Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.24 per share and has a dividend yield of 7.4%. Bank First National pays out 26.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Midland States Bancorp pays out -161.0% 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. Bank First National has increased its dividend for 10 consecutive years and Midland States Bancorp has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years. Midland States Bancorp is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Profitability

This table compares Bank First National and Midland States Bancorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Bank First National	29.04%	10.81%	1.56%
Midland States Bancorp	-1.50%	-1.11%	-0.09%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Bank First National and Midland States Bancorp”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Bank First National	$226.09 million	5.17	$65.56 million	$6.93	17.02
Midland States Bancorp	$489.48 million	0.74	$38.04 million	($0.77)	-21.73

Bank First National has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Midland States Bancorp. Midland States Bancorp is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Bank First National, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Bank First National beats Midland States Bancorp on 10 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Bank First National

Bank First Corporation operates as a holding company for Bank First, N.A. that provides consumer and commercial financial services to businesses, professionals, consumers, associations, individuals, and governmental authorities in Wisconsin. It offers checking, savings, money market, cash management, retirement, and health savings accounts; other time deposits; certificates of deposit; and residential mortgage products. The company's loan products include real estate loans, including commercial real estate, residential mortgage, and home equity loans; commercial and industrial loans for working capital, accounts receivable, inventory financing, and other business purposes; construction and development loans; residential 1-4 family loans; and consumer loans for personal and household purposes, including secured and unsecured installment loans, and revolving lines of credit. It also provides credit cards; ATM processing; insurance; data processing and other information technology; investment and safekeeping; treasury management; and online, telephone, and mobile banking services. The company was formerly known as Bank First National Corporation and changed its name to Bank First Corporation in June 2019. Bank First Corporation was founded in 1894 and is headquartered in Manitowoc, Wisconsin.

About Midland States Bancorp

Midland States Bancorp, Inc. operates as a financial holding company for Midland States Bank that provides various banking products and services to individuals, businesses, municipalities, and other entities. It operates through Banking, Wealth Management, and Other segments. The company provides a range of financial products and services to consumers and businesses, including commercial loans to finance agricultural equipment and production; and commercial real estate loans for owner occupied offices, warehouses and production facilities, office buildings, hotels, mixed-use residential and commercial facilities, retail centers, multifamily properties, and assisted living facilities. In addition, it offers construction and land development loans, such as real estate investment properties and residential developments, and lesser extent loans; and residential real estate loans, which includes first and second mortgage loans, and home equity lines of credit consisting of loans secured by first or second mortgages on primarily owner occupied primary residences. The company also provides consumer installment loans for the purchase of cars, boats and other recreational vehicles, as well as for the purchase of major appliances and other home improvement projects; and commercial equipment leasing programs for manufacturing, construction, transportation, and healthcare industries. Further, it offers merchant services; deposit products, including checking, time, savings, money market, and certificates of deposit, as well as sweep accounts; letters of credit; and trust and wealth management services, such as financial and estate planning, trustee and custodial, investment management, tax, insurance, and business planning, corporate retirement plan consulting and administration, and retail brokerage services. The company was founded in 1881 and is headquartered in Effingham, Illinois.