Westamerica Bancorporation (NASDAQ:WABC) vs. Bay Commercial Bank (NASDAQ:BCML) Head to Head Review

Westamerica Bancorporation (NASDAQ:WABC) and Bay Commercial Bank (NASDAQ:BCML) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, valuation, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, profitability, dividends and earnings.

Profitability

This table compares Westamerica Bancorporation and Bay Commercial Bank’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Westamerica Bancorporation	43.69%	13.81%	2.09%
Bay Commercial Bank	17.36%	7.41%	0.93%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Westamerica Bancorporation and Bay Commercial Bank, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Westamerica Bancorporation	0	2	0	0	2.00
Bay Commercial Bank	0	1	1	0	2.50

Westamerica Bancorporation presently has a consensus price target of $52.00, suggesting a potential upside of 6.78%. Bay Commercial Bank has a consensus price target of $31.50, suggesting a potential upside of 12.26%. Given Bay Commercial Bank’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Bay Commercial Bank is more favorable than Westamerica Bancorporation.

Dividends

Westamerica Bancorporation pays an annual dividend of $1.84 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.8%. Bay Commercial Bank pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.9%. Westamerica Bancorporation pays out 38.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Bay Commercial Bank pays out 36.7% 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. Westamerica Bancorporation has increased its dividend for 34 consecutive years and Bay Commercial Bank has increased its dividend for 3 consecutive years. Westamerica Bancorporation is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Westamerica Bancorporation and Bay Commercial Bank”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Westamerica Bancorporation	$311.17 million	3.98	$138.64 million	$4.78	10.19
Bay Commercial Bank	$138.09 million	2.22	$23.61 million	$2.18	12.87

Westamerica Bancorporation has higher revenue and earnings than Bay Commercial Bank. Westamerica Bancorporation is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Bay Commercial Bank, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

81.9% of Westamerica Bancorporation shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 66.2% of Bay Commercial Bank shares are held by institutional investors. 5.3% of Westamerica Bancorporation shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 6.5% of Bay Commercial Bank shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Risk & Volatility

Westamerica Bancorporation has a beta of 0.63, indicating that its stock price is 37% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Bay Commercial Bank has a beta of 0.61, indicating that its stock price is 39% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Westamerica Bancorporation beats Bay Commercial Bank on 11 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Westamerica Bancorporation

Westamerica Bancorporation operates as a bank holding company for the Westamerica Bank that provides various banking products and services to individual and commercial customers. The company accepts various deposit products, including retail savings and checking accounts, as well as certificates of deposit. Its loan portfolio includes commercial, commercial and residential real estate, real estate construction, and consumer installment loans, as well as indirect automobile loans. The company was formerly known as Independent Bankshares Corporation and changed its name to Westamerica Bancorporation in 1983. The company was founded in 1884 and is headquartered in San Rafael, California.

About Bay Commercial Bank

BayCom Corp operates as the bank holding company for United Business Bank that provides various financial services to small and mid-sized businesses, service professionals, and individuals. The company provides demand, savings, money market, and time deposit accounts. It offers commercial and multifamily real estate loans, including owner-occupied and investor real estate loans; commercial and industrial loans, such as equipment loans and working capital lines of credit; small business administration loans; construction and land loans; agriculture-related loans; and consumer loans comprising installment loans, unsecured and secured personal lines of credit, and overdraft protection. In addition, the company provides online and mobile banking, automated teller machine, remote deposit capture, night depository, courier, direct deposit, treasury management, wire transfer, automated clearing house, debit cards, cashier's and travelers checks, letters of credit, lockbox, positive pay, reverse positive pay, and account reconciliation services, as well as zero balance accounts and sweep accounts, including loan sweep. It operates through a network of full-service banking branches in Northern and Southern California; Las Vegas, Nevada; Denver, Colorado; Custer, Delta, and Grand counties, Colorado; and Seattle, Washington and Central New Mexico. The company was formerly known as Bay Commercial Bank and changed its name to BayCom Corp in January 2017. BayCom Corp was incorporated in 2004 and is headquartered in Walnut Creek, California.