Critical Survey: California BanCorp (NASDAQ:BCAL) versus Bank of Santa Clarita (OTCMKTS:BSCA)

Bank of Santa Clarita (OTCMKTS:BSCA) and California BanCorp (NASDAQ:BCAL) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, profitability, risk, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, dividends and earnings.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Bank of Santa Clarita and California BanCorp”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Bank of Santa Clarita	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
California BanCorp	$237.07 million	2.57	$63.06 million	$1.93	9.78

California BanCorp has higher revenue and earnings than Bank of Santa Clarita.

Profitability

This table compares Bank of Santa Clarita and California BanCorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Bank of Santa Clarita	N/A	N/A	N/A
California BanCorp	26.60%	11.51%	1.57%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

55.4% of California BanCorp shares are owned by institutional investors. 14.8% of California BanCorp shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Bank of Santa Clarita and California BanCorp, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Bank of Santa Clarita	0	0	0	0	0.00
California BanCorp	1	0	3	1	2.80

California BanCorp has a consensus target price of $20.50, indicating a potential upside of 8.64%. Given California BanCorp’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe California BanCorp is more favorable than Bank of Santa Clarita.

Summary

California BanCorp beats Bank of Santa Clarita on 10 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Bank of Santa Clarita

Bank of Santa Clarita engages in the provision of banking and financial services. It offers real estate, small business administration, commercial and consumer loans, consumer and business checking accounts, savings accounts, certificates of deposit, trade finance, and money transfers. The company was founded by Frank D. Di Tomaso on October 26, 2004 and is headquartered in Santa Clarita, CA.

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.