First Northern Community Bancorp (OTCMKTS:FNRN) and Bay Commercial Bank (NASDAQ:BCML) Head-To-Head Review

Bay Commercial Bank (NASDAQ:BCML) and First Northern Community Bancorp (OTCMKTS:FNRN) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, risk, institutional ownership, earnings, analyst recommendations, valuation and profitability.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

66.2% of Bay Commercial Bank shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 17.9% of First Northern Community Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. 7.2% of Bay Commercial Bank shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 13.0% of First Northern Community Bancorp shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility & Risk

Bay Commercial Bank has a beta of 0.58, suggesting that its share price is 42% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, First Northern Community Bancorp has a beta of 0.2, suggesting that its share price is 80% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Bay Commercial Bank and First Northern Community Bancorp, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Bay Commercial Bank	0	1	1	0	2.50
First Northern Community Bancorp	0	0	0	0	0.00

Bay Commercial Bank currently has a consensus price target of $31.50, indicating a potential upside of 5.70%. Given Bay Commercial Bank’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Bay Commercial Bank is more favorable than First Northern Community Bancorp.

Profitability

This table compares Bay Commercial Bank and First Northern Community Bancorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Bay Commercial Bank	17.36%	7.41%	0.93%
First Northern Community Bancorp	23.58%	11.03%	1.08%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Bay Commercial Bank and First Northern Community Bancorp”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Bay Commercial Bank	$138.09 million	2.36	$23.61 million	$2.18	13.67
First Northern Community Bancorp	$84.67 million	2.26	$20.03 million	$1.28	9.48

Bay Commercial Bank has higher revenue and earnings than First Northern Community Bancorp. First Northern Community Bancorp 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.

Summary

Bay Commercial Bank beats First Northern Community Bancorp on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About First Northern Community Bancorp

First Northern Community Bancorp operates as the bank holding company for First Northern Bank of Dixon that provides commercial banking products and services to individuals, and small and medium sized businesses. The company accepts demand deposits, interest-bearing transaction deposits, savings and money market deposit accounts, and time deposits. It also offers commercial, commercial real estate, agriculture, residential mortgage, residential construction, and consumer loans. In addition, the company provides debit and credit cards; investment and brokerage services; alternative investment products, and fiduciary and other financial services; and equipment leasing, merchant card processing, payroll, and international banking services through third parties. Further, it offers cashier's checks, safe deposit boxes, and other customary banking services. The company operates branches located in the cities of Auburn, Colusa, Davis, Dixon, Fairfield, Orland, Rancho Cordova, Roseville, Sacramento, Vacaville, West Sacramento, Winters, Willows, and Woodland; satellite banking office inside a retirement community in the city of Davis; residential mortgage loan office in Davis; and commercial loan office in the Contra Costa County city of Walnut Creek. First Northern Community Bancorp was founded in 1910 and is headquartered in Dixon, California.