Contrasting California First Leasing (OTCMKTS:CFNB) and FS Bancorp (NASDAQ:FSBW)

California First Leasing (OTCMKTS:CFNB) and FS Bancorp (NASDAQ:FSBW) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, analyst recommendations, profitability, risk, dividends and earnings.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for California First Leasing and FS Bancorp, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
California First Leasing	0	0	0	0	0.00
FS Bancorp	0	1	1	0	2.50

FS Bancorp has a consensus target price of $45.00, indicating a potential upside of 7.42%. Given FS Bancorp’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe FS Bancorp is more favorable than California First Leasing.

Profitability

This table compares California First Leasing and FS Bancorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
California First Leasing	N/A	N/A	N/A
FS Bancorp	15.19%	11.16%	1.06%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

6.5% of California First Leasing shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 63.9% of FS Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. 92.2% of California First Leasing shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 12.7% of FS Bancorp shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares California First Leasing and FS Bancorp”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
California First Leasing	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
FS Bancorp	$219.52 million	1.44	$33.35 million	$4.28	9.79

FS Bancorp has higher revenue and earnings than California First Leasing.

Volatility and Risk

California First Leasing has a beta of 0.16, indicating that its share price is 84% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, FS Bancorp has a beta of 0.71, indicating that its share price is 29% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

FS Bancorp beats California First Leasing on 9 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

About California First Leasing

California First Leasing Corporation provides loans and lease financing for universities, businesses, and other commercial or non-profit organizations. The company was formerly known as California First National Bancorp and changed its name to California First Leasing Corporation in February 2021. California First Leasing Corporation was founded in 1977 and is based in Newport Beach, California.

About FS Bancorp

FS Bancorp, Inc. operates as a bank holding company for 1st Security Bank of Washington that provides banking and financial services to local families, local and regional businesses, and industry niches. The company operates in two segments, Commercial and Consumer Banking; and Home Lending. It offers various deposit instruments, including checking accounts, money market deposit accounts, savings accounts, and certificates of deposit. The company provides one-to-four-family residential first mortgages, second mortgage/home equity loan products, non-mortgage commercial business loans, commercial real estate loans, and construction and development loans, as well as consumer loans, which primarily include personal lines of credit, credit cards, automobile, direct home improvement, loans on deposit, and recreational loans. It operates full bank service branches and home loan production offices in suburban communities in the greater Puget Sound area, including Snohomish, King, Pierce, Jefferson, Kitsap, Clallam, Grays Harbor, and Thurston counties; and a loan production office in the market area of the Tri-Cities. FS Bancorp, Inc. was founded in 1936 and is headquartered in Mountlake Terrace, Washington.