Critical Review: OP Bancorp (NASDAQ:OPBK) versus California BanCorp (NASDAQ:BCAL)

OP Bancorp (NASDAQ:OPBK) and California BanCorp (NASDAQ:BCAL) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, earnings, risk, dividends and valuation.

Profitability

This table compares OP Bancorp and California BanCorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
OP Bancorp	13.91%	10.72%	0.91%
California BanCorp	13.20%	10.97%	1.40%

Volatility and Risk

OP Bancorp has a beta of 0.74, suggesting that its share price is 26% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, California BanCorp has a beta of 1.21, suggesting that its share price is 21% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares OP Bancorp and California BanCorp”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
OP Bancorp	$154.05 million	1.38	$21.07 million	$1.48	9.68
California BanCorp	$184.56 million	2.96	$5.43 million	$0.87	19.33

OP Bancorp has higher earnings, but lower revenue than California BanCorp. OP Bancorp is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than California BanCorp, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

53.6% of OP Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 55.4% of California BanCorp shares are held by institutional investors. 20.4% of OP Bancorp shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 14.8% of California BanCorp shares are held by company 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.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for OP Bancorp and California BanCorp, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
OP Bancorp	0	2	0	0	2.00
California BanCorp	0	0	1	1	3.50

OP Bancorp currently has a consensus target price of $15.50, indicating a potential upside of 8.24%. California BanCorp has a consensus target price of $19.50, indicating a potential upside of 15.93%. Given California BanCorp’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe California BanCorp is more favorable than OP Bancorp.

Summary

California BanCorp beats OP Bancorp on 11 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About OP Bancorp

OP Bancorp operates as the bank holding company for Open Bank that provides banking products and services in California. It offers demand, checking, savings, money market, and time deposit accounts, as well as certificates of deposit. The company also provides commercial real estate, small business administration, commercial and industrial business, single-family residential, term, consumer, and home mortgage loans; trade financing products; and letters of credit, and SWIFT and export advice. In addition, it offers debit and credit card, online transfer and bill payment, electronic delivery of customer statements, and mobile banking solutions for iPhone and Android phones, including remote check deposit with mobile bill pay; direct deposits, cashier's checks, person to person payments, wire transfers, and automated clearing house (ACH) services; and cash management services, including balance reporting, transfers between accounts, wire transfer initiation, ACH origination, and stop payment services, as well as remote deposit capture, positive pay, zero balance accounts, and sweep accounts. The company operates full branch offices in Downtown Los Angeles, Los Angeles Fashion District, Los Angeles Koreatown, Gardena, Buena Park, and Santa Clara in California; and Carrollton, Texas; and operates loan production offices in Pleasanton, California; Atlanta, Georgia; Aurora, Colorado; and Lynnwood in Washington. The company was founded in 2005 and is headquartered in Los Angeles, California.

About California BanCorp

Southern California Bancorp operates as the holding company for Bank of Southern California, N.A. that provides various financial products to individuals, professionals, and small-to medium-sized businesses. The company offers checking, personal and business savings, and money market accounts, as well as certificates of deposit. It also provides home equity lines of credit, business loans and lines of credit, commercial real estate and construction loans, small business administration loans, letters of credit, and personal and business credit cards. In addition, the company provides cash vault, sweep accounts, and remote deposit capture services; online and mobile banking services; courier service; lockbox services; and merchant services. It operates branches in San Diego, Orange, Ventura, Los Angeles, and Riverside counties, as well as the Inland Empire. The company was founded in 2001 and is headquartered in San Diego, California.