Contrasting FinWise Bancorp (NASDAQ:FINW) & Pacific Alliance Bank (OTCMKTS:PFBN)

Pacific Alliance Bank (OTCMKTS:PFBN) and FinWise Bancorp (NASDAQ:FINW) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, profitability, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, risk, valuation and dividends.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

35.4% of FinWise Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. 21.3% of FinWise Bancorp shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Risk & Volatility

Pacific Alliance Bank has a beta of 0.17, suggesting that its stock price is 83% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, FinWise Bancorp has a beta of 0.82, suggesting that its stock price is 18% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Pacific Alliance Bank and FinWise Bancorp, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Pacific Alliance Bank	0	0	0	0	0.00
FinWise Bancorp	0	1	3	0	2.75

FinWise Bancorp has a consensus price target of $22.00, indicating a potential upside of 25.07%. Given FinWise Bancorp’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe FinWise Bancorp is more favorable than Pacific Alliance Bank.

Profitability

This table compares Pacific Alliance Bank and FinWise Bancorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Pacific Alliance Bank	N/A	N/A	N/A
FinWise Bancorp	12.13%	8.31%	1.82%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Pacific Alliance Bank and FinWise Bancorp”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Pacific Alliance Bank	$23.57 million	1.15	$1.43 million	N/A	N/A
FinWise Bancorp	$96.84 million	2.47	$12.74 million	$1.06	16.59

FinWise Bancorp has higher revenue and earnings than Pacific Alliance Bank.

Summary

FinWise Bancorp beats Pacific Alliance Bank on 12 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Pacific Alliance Bank

Pacific Alliance Bank provides commercial and consumer banking products and services for small to midsize business owners, and employees in the United States. It offers checking, money market, savings, and individual retirement accounts; and certificates of deposit. The company also provides mortgage, commercial, term, commercial real estate, construction, and SBA loans; and lines of credit. In addition, it offers personal and business online services; and casher checks, check reorder, night deposit, direct deposit, safe deposit boxes, positive pay/check reconciliation, wire, debit card, and other services. The company was founded in 2006 and is headquartered in San Gabriel, California.

About FinWise Bancorp

FinWise Bancorp operates as the bank holding company for FinWise Bank that provides various banking products and services to individual and corporate customers in Utah. The company offers various deposit products, including interest and noninterest bearing demand accounts, health savings account demand deposits, NOW and money market accounts, and checking and savings accounts, as well as time deposits and certificates of deposits. It also provides loans, including consumer, small business administration, commercial, commercial real estate, and residential real estate loans. In addition, the company offers debit cards, remote deposit capture, online banking, mobile banking, and direct deposit services; and business accounts and cash management services, such as business checking and savings accounts, and treasury services. FinWise Bancorp was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Murray, Utah.