Comparing Westamerica Bancorporation (NASDAQ:WABC) and Plumas Bancorp (NASDAQ:PLBC)

Westamerica Bancorporation (NASDAQ:WABC) and Plumas Bancorp (NASDAQ:PLBC) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability, risk, dividends, earnings and institutional ownership.

Risk & Volatility

Westamerica Bancorporation has a beta of 0.65, meaning that its share price is 35% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Plumas Bancorp has a beta of 0.68, meaning that its share price is 32% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Westamerica Bancorporation and Plumas Bancorp’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%
Plumas Bancorp	30.81%	15.71%	1.78%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

81.9% of Westamerica Bancorporation shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 41.7% of Plumas Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. 5.3% of Westamerica Bancorporation shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 9.0% of Plumas Bancorp shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for Westamerica Bancorporation and Plumas Bancorp, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Westamerica Bancorporation	0	2	0	0	2.00
Plumas Bancorp	0	0	3	0	3.00

Westamerica Bancorporation presently has a consensus target price of $52.00, indicating a potential upside of 3.98%. Plumas Bancorp has a consensus target price of $58.00, indicating a potential upside of 33.67%. Given Plumas Bancorp’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Plumas Bancorp is more favorable than Westamerica Bancorporation.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Westamerica Bancorporation and Plumas Bancorp”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Westamerica Bancorporation	$311.17 million	4.09	$138.64 million	$4.78	10.46
Plumas Bancorp	$93.11 million	3.24	$28.62 million	$4.85	8.95

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

Dividends

Westamerica Bancorporation pays an annual dividend of $1.84 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.7%. Plumas Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.8%. Westamerica Bancorporation pays out 38.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Plumas Bancorp pays out 24.7% 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 Plumas Bancorp has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years. Westamerica Bancorporation is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Summary

Westamerica Bancorporation beats Plumas Bancorp on 9 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 Plumas Bancorp

Plumas Bancorp operates as the bank holding company for the Plumas Bank that provides various banking products and services for small and middle market businesses, and individuals in Northeastern California and Northwestern Nevada. The company accepts various deposits, such as checking, money market checking, business sweep, public funds sweep, savings, time deposit, and retirement accounts. Its loan portfolio comprises of term real estate, commercial, and industrial term loans; government-guaranteed and agricultural loans, as well as credit lines; consumer, automobile, and home equity loans; land development and construction loans; and small business administration loans. In addition, the company provides remote deposit, telephone and mobile banking, internet banking with bill-pay options, cashier's check, bank-by-mail, automated teller machine, night depository, safe deposit box, direct deposit, electronic funds transfer, and other customary banking services. Plumas Bancorp was founded in 1980 and is headquartered in Reno, Nevada.