Equitable Financial (OTCMKTS:EQFN) & FirstSun Capital Bancorp (NASDAQ:FSUN) Critical Review

FirstSun Capital Bancorp (NASDAQ:FSUN) and Equitable Financial (OTCMKTS:EQFN) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, risk, dividends, analyst recommendations, earnings, institutional ownership and profitability.

Profitability

This table compares FirstSun Capital Bancorp and Equitable Financial’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
FirstSun Capital Bancorp	15.94%	9.00%	1.17%
Equitable Financial	9.70%	6.57%	0.64%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings for FirstSun Capital Bancorp and Equitable Financial, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
FirstSun Capital Bancorp	0	1	3	0	2.75
Equitable Financial	0	0	0	0	0.00

FirstSun Capital Bancorp presently has a consensus price target of $43.33, indicating a potential upside of 12.03%. Given FirstSun Capital Bancorp’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe FirstSun Capital Bancorp is more favorable than Equitable Financial.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

7.2% of Equitable Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. 12.5% of FirstSun Capital Bancorp shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 11.3% of Equitable Financial shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Risk and Volatility

FirstSun Capital Bancorp has a beta of 0.82, indicating that its share price is 18% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Equitable Financial has a beta of 0.09, indicating that its share price is 91% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares FirstSun Capital Bancorp and Equitable Financial”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
FirstSun Capital Bancorp	$549.33 million	1.96	$75.63 million	$3.16	12.24
Equitable Financial	$33.95 million	1.12	$3.44 million	$1.31	11.73

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

Summary

FirstSun Capital Bancorp beats Equitable Financial on 13 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About FirstSun Capital Bancorp

FirstSun Capital Bancorp engages in the provision of commercial banking services. It operates through the following segments: Banking, Mortgage Operations, and Corporate. The Banking segment consists of loans and provides deposits and fee-based services to consumer, business, and mortgage lending customers. The Mortgage Operations segment originates, sells, services, and manages market risk from changes in interest rates on one-to-four family residential mortgage loans to sell and hold. The company is founded on November 9, 1981 headquartered in Denver, CO.

About Equitable Financial

Equitable Financial Corp. operates as the holding company for Equitable Bank that provides various banking products and services in Nebraska, the United States. The company offers checking and savings accounts; recorder checks; online and mobile banking; remote deposit capture; voice banking; credit card processing; debit and gift cards; and safe deposit boxes. It also provides home, home equity, auto, personal, real estate and construction, operating lines of credit, small business administration, and agricultural loans, as well as equipment financing. In addition, the company offers foreign currency and exchanges; financial planning; wealth management; investment advisory; and retirement services. It operates through branches located in Grand Island, North Platte, and Omaha. The company was founded in 1882 and is headquartered in Grand Island, Nebraska.