Head to Head Analysis: Oxford Bank (OTCMKTS:OXBC) & Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST)

Oxford Bank (OTCMKTS:OXBC) and Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, dividends, analyst recommendations, risk, earnings, profitability and institutional ownership.

Risk and Volatility

Oxford Bank has a beta of 0.21, indicating that its stock price is 79% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Business First Bancshares has a beta of 0.91, indicating that its stock price is 9% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Oxford Bank and Business First Bancshares”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Oxford Bank	$57.89 million	1.72	$9.96 million	$4.20	9.54
Business First Bancshares	$314.39 million	2.37	$65.11 million	$2.59	9.70

Business First Bancshares has higher revenue and earnings than Oxford Bank. Oxford Bank is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Business First Bancshares, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Oxford Bank and Business First Bancshares’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Oxford Bank	17.14%	N/A	N/A
Business First Bancshares	15.94%	11.27%	1.08%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

4.5% of Oxford Bank shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 47.3% of Business First Bancshares shares are owned by institutional investors. 5.7% of Business First Bancshares shares are owned by 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.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings for Oxford Bank and Business First Bancshares, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Oxford Bank	0	0	0	0	0.00
Business First Bancshares	0	1	3	1	3.00

Business First Bancshares has a consensus price target of $30.75, suggesting a potential upside of 22.41%. Given Business First Bancshares’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Business First Bancshares is more favorable than Oxford Bank.

Summary

Business First Bancshares beats Oxford Bank on 13 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Oxford Bank

Oxford Bank Corporation provides banking products and services to various customers in Michigan. Its deposit products include savings, checking, and individual retirement accounts, as well as certificates of deposit. The company's loan portfolio comprises home mortgage, home equity, auto, student, term, commercial real estate, and small business administration loans, as well as lines of credit. It also offers cash management, merchant card, remote deposit capture, payroll, overdraft protection, wire transfer, night depository, and notary services, as well as safe deposit box and interactive teller machine services; online, telephone, and mobile banking services; debit and credit cards; and insurance products. The company operates its branches in Clarkston, Davison, Dryden, Lake Orion, Ortonville, Oxford, and Oakland. Oxford Bank Corporation was founded in 1884 and is based in Oxford, Michigan.

About Business First Bancshares

Business First Bancshares, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for b1BANK that provides various banking products and services in Louisiana and Texas. It offers various deposit products and services, including checking, demand, money market, time, and savings accounts; and certificates of deposits, remote deposit capture, and direct deposit services. The company also provides commercial and industrial loans, such as working capital, term, equipment financing, asset acquisition, expansion and development, borrowing base, and other loan products, as well as commercial lines of credit, accounts receivable factoring, agricultural financing, and letters of credit; construction and development loans; commercial real estate loans; residential real estate loans comprising first and second lien 1-4 family mortgage loans, and home equity lines of credit; and consumer loans, including secured and unsecured installment, and term loans. In addition, it offers wealth management products, including mutual funds, annuities, individual retirement accounts, and other financial products, as well as other fiduciary and private banking products and services. Further, the company provides a range of other financial services comprising debit and credit cards, treasury and cash management, merchant, automated clearing house, lock-box, receivables factoring, correspondent banking, and other treasury services, as well as employee and payroll benefits solutions; and drive-through banking facilities, automated teller machines, night depository, personalized checks, electronic funds transfer, domestic and foreign wire transfer, traveler's checks, vault, loan and deposit sweep accounts, online and mobile banking, e-statements, and bank-by-mail services. Business First Bancshares, Inc. was founded in 2006 and is headquartered in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.