Reviewing South Atlantic Bancshares (OTCMKTS:SABK) and Fvcbankcorp (NASDAQ:FVCB)

Fvcbankcorp (NASDAQ:FVCB) and South Atlantic Bancshares (OTCMKTS:SABK) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, dividends, profitability, earnings, valuation, institutional ownership and analyst recommendations.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for Fvcbankcorp and South Atlantic Bancshares, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Fvcbankcorp	0	2	1	0	2.33
South Atlantic Bancshares	0	1	0	0	2.00

Fvcbankcorp currently has a consensus price target of $16.00, indicating a potential upside of 13.72%. Given Fvcbankcorp’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe Fvcbankcorp is more favorable than South Atlantic Bancshares.

Dividends

Fvcbankcorp pays an annual dividend of $0.24 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.7%. South Atlantic Bancshares pays an annual dividend of $0.10 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.5%. Fvcbankcorp pays out 20.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. South Atlantic Bancshares pays out 5.3% 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.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Fvcbankcorp and South Atlantic Bancshares”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Fvcbankcorp	$115.85 million	2.20	$15.06 million	$1.16	12.13
South Atlantic Bancshares	$93.28 million	1.59	$14.21 million	$1.89	10.45

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

Risk & Volatility

Fvcbankcorp has a beta of 0.38, suggesting that its stock price is 62% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, South Atlantic Bancshares has a beta of 0.12, suggesting that its stock price is 88% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Fvcbankcorp and South Atlantic Bancshares’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Fvcbankcorp	17.72%	8.73%	0.94%
South Atlantic Bancshares	N/A	N/A	N/A

Institutional & Insider Ownership

43.6% of Fvcbankcorp shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 13.3% of South Atlantic Bancshares shares are owned by institutional investors. 10.9% of Fvcbankcorp shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Fvcbankcorp beats South Atlantic Bancshares on 14 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Fvcbankcorp

FVCBankcorp, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for FVCbank that provides various banking products and services in Virginia. It offers deposit products, including interest and noninterest-bearing transaction accounts, savings accounts, money market accounts, and certificates of deposit. The company also provides commercial real estate loans; commercial construction loans; commercial loans for various business purposes, such as for working capital, equipment purchases, lines of credit, and government contract financing; small business administration loans; asset-based loans and accounts receivable financing; home equity loans; and consumer loans. In addition, it offers business and consumer credit cards; merchant services; business insurance products; and online banking, remote deposit, and mobile banking services. The company serves commercial businesses, nonprofit organizations, professional service entities, and their respective owners and employees located in the greater Washington, D.C., and Baltimore metropolitan areas. It operates branch offices in Arlington, Virginia; the independent city of Manassas, Virginia; Reston, Fairfax County, Virginia; Springfield, Fairfax County in Virginia; and Montgomery County and Baltimore in Maryland, and Washington, D.C. FVCBankcorp, Inc. was founded in 2007 and is headquartered in Fairfax, Virginia.

About South Atlantic Bancshares

South Atlantic Bancshares, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for South Atlantic Bank that provides consumer and commercial banking products and services to individuals, small businesses, and corporations in South Carolina. The company offers checking, money market, and saving accounts, as well as certificate of deposit, individual retirement, and health saving accounts; personal, auto, and recreation loans, as well as home equity and ready reserve overdraft line of credits, and commercial lending products; and credit cards. It also provides cash management and merchant card services; remote deposit capture and automated clearing house services; online, mobile, and telephone banking services; personal and business checks; mortgage products and services; and wealth management services. The company operates offices in Myrtle Beach, Carolina Forest, North Myrtle Beach, Murrells Inlet, Pawleys Island, Georgetown, Mount Pleasant, Charleston, Bluffton, Hilton Head Island, and Beaufort, South Carolina. South Atlantic Bancshares, Inc. was founded in 2007 and is headquartered in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.