Contrasting California BanCorp (NASDAQ:BCAL) & BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF)

BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF) and California BanCorp (NASDAQ:BCAL) are both finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, valuation, profitability, earnings, dividends, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for BancFirst and California BanCorp, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
BancFirst	0	3	1	0	2.25
California BanCorp	0	0	3	2	3.40

BancFirst presently has a consensus target price of $128.00, indicating a potential upside of 16.65%. California BanCorp has a consensus target price of $20.33, indicating a potential upside of 7.70%. Given BancFirst’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe BancFirst is more favorable than California BanCorp.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
BancFirst	25.13%	13.97%	1.70%
California BanCorp	26.26%	11.85%	1.59%

Volatility & Risk

BancFirst has a beta of 0.67, suggesting that its stock price is 33% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, California BanCorp has a beta of 1.18, suggesting that its stock price is 18% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares BancFirst and California BanCorp”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
BancFirst	$908.71 million	4.02	$216.35 million	$7.05	15.56
California BanCorp	$184.56 million	3.31	$5.43 million	$1.94	9.73

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

Institutional & Insider Ownership

51.7% of BancFirst shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 55.4% of California BanCorp shares are held by institutional investors. 32.4% of BancFirst 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 hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Dividends

BancFirst pays an annual dividend of $1.96 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.8%. California BanCorp pays an annual dividend of $0.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.1%. BancFirst pays out 27.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. California BanCorp pays out 20.6% 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. BancFirst has raised its dividend for 31 consecutive years. California BanCorp is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Summary

BancFirst beats California BanCorp on 10 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About BancFirst

BancFirst Corporation operates as the bank holding company for BancFirst that provides a range of commercial banking services to retail customers, and small to medium-sized businesses. The company operates through BancFirst Metropolitan Banks, BancFirst Community Banks, Pegasus, Worthington, and Other Financial Services segments. It offers checking accounts, negotiable order of withdrawal accounts, savings accounts, money market accounts, sweep accounts, club accounts, individual retirement accounts, and certificates of deposit, as well as overdraft protection and auto draft services. The company also provides commercial and agricultural non-real estate loans for working capital, facilities acquisition or expansion, purchase of equipment, and other needs; lending services that include private banking, energy, commercial and residential real estate, and commercial and industrial loans; and loans to finance purchases of consumer goods, such as automobiles, boats, household goods, vacations, and education. In addition, it engages in the investment management and administration of trusts for individuals, corporations, and employee benefit plans, as well as bond trustee and paying agent business for various Oklahoma municipalities and governmental entities; and provision of item processing, research, and other correspondent banking services to financial institutions and governmental units. Further, the company provides insurance agency services; depository and funds transfer, collection, safe deposit box, cash management, and other services. It serves customers in non-metropolitan trade centers and cities in the metropolitan statistical areas of Oklahoma. The company was formerly known as United Community Corporation and changed its name to BancFirst Corporation in November 1988. BancFirst Corporation was incorporated in 1984 and is headquartered in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

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.