Contrasting Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) & BNCCORP (OTCMKTS:BNCC)

BNCCORP (OTCMKTS:BNCC) and Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, analyst recommendations, risk, valuation, institutional ownership, earnings and profitability.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for BNCCORP and Lakeland Financial, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
BNCCORP	0	0	0	0	0.00
Lakeland Financial	0	2	2	0	2.50

Lakeland Financial has a consensus price target of $68.67, suggesting a potential upside of 14.10%. Given Lakeland Financial’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Lakeland Financial is more favorable than BNCCORP.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares BNCCORP and Lakeland Financial”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
BNCCORP	$52.44 million	2.14	$7.93 million	$2.50	12.66
Lakeland Financial	$430.00 million	3.57	$93.48 million	$3.79	15.88

Lakeland Financial has higher revenue and earnings than BNCCORP. BNCCORP is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Lakeland Financial, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares BNCCORP and Lakeland Financial’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
BNCCORP	15.94%	8.95%	0.91%
Lakeland Financial	23.23%	13.77%	1.43%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

81.2% of Lakeland Financial shares are held by institutional investors. 28.4% of BNCCORP shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 3.0% of Lakeland Financial shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Risk and Volatility

BNCCORP has a beta of 0.4, meaning that its stock price is 60% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Lakeland Financial has a beta of 0.73, meaning that its stock price is 27% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Lakeland Financial beats BNCCORP on 13 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About BNCCORP

BNCCORP, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for BNC National Bank that provides community banking, retail and mortgage banking, and wealth management services to businesses and consumers. The company offers commercial banking services, including business financing, commercial real estate lending, small business administration loans, business checking, cash management, corporate credit cards, and merchant services to small to middle-market businesses. It also provides retail and mortgage banking services, such as personal checking and savings products, personal loans, and card services; and residential loans through a consumer direct channel, as well as a retail channel. In addition, the company offers wealth management solutions, including 401(k) and other retirement plans, trust services, and personal wealth advisory services. It offers community banking and wealth management services through 11 locations in Arizona and North Dakota; and mortgage banking services through 7 locations in Arizona, North Dakota, Illinois, and Kansas. The company was incorporated in 1987 and is headquartered in Bismarck, North Dakota.

About Lakeland Financial

Lakeland Financial Corporation operates as the bank holding company for Lake City Bank that provides various banking products and services in the United States. The company accepts various deposit products, such as noninterest bearing, interest-bearing checking, savings, money market, NOW, and demand deposits. Its loan products include commercial and industrial, commercial real estate and multi-family residential, construction, agri-business and agricultural, consumer 1-4 family mortgage, and other commercial and consumer loans. The company also provides retail and merchant credit card services; corporate treasury management, wealth advisory, and trust services; retail brokerage services, including various financial and investment products, such as annuities and life insurance; and mobile business banking and on-line treasury management services. It serves commercial real estate, manufacturing, agriculture, construction, retail, wholesale, finance and insurance, accommodation and food services, and health care industries. The company was founded in 1872 and is headquartered in Warsaw, Indiana.