Head-To-Head Contrast: Mission Valley Bancorp (OTCMKTS:MVLY) and California BanCorp (NASDAQ:BCAL)

California BanCorp (NASDAQ:BCAL) and Mission Valley Bancorp (OTCMKTS:MVLY) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, valuation, dividends, institutional ownership, profitability, earnings and risk.

Profitability

This table compares California BanCorp and Mission Valley Bancorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
California BanCorp	26.60%	11.51%	1.57%
Mission Valley Bancorp	N/A	N/A	N/A

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares California BanCorp and Mission Valley Bancorp”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
California BanCorp	$237.07 million	2.39	$63.06 million	$1.93	9.08
Mission Valley Bancorp	N/A	N/A	$8.00 million	$2.39	7.62

California BanCorp has higher revenue and earnings than Mission Valley Bancorp. Mission Valley Bancorp is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than California BanCorp, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for California BanCorp and Mission Valley Bancorp, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
California BanCorp	1	0	3	1	2.80
Mission Valley Bancorp	0	0	0	0	0.00

California BanCorp currently has a consensus target price of $20.50, indicating a potential upside of 17.01%. Given California BanCorp’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe California BanCorp is more favorable than Mission Valley Bancorp.

Risk & Volatility

California BanCorp has a beta of 1.17, meaning that its share price is 17% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Mission Valley Bancorp has a beta of 0.19, meaning that its share price is 81% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

California BanCorp pays an annual dividend of $0.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.3%. Mission Valley Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.15 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.8%. California BanCorp pays out 20.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Mission Valley Bancorp pays out 6.3% 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.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

55.4% of California BanCorp shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 5.7% of Mission Valley 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 stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

California BanCorp beats Mission Valley Bancorp on 14 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About Mission Valley Bancorp

Mission Valley Bancorp operates as the bank holding company for Mission Valley Bank and Mission SBA Loan Servicing LLC that provides various banking products and services to individuals and corporate customers. The company's deposit products include non-interest-bearing and interest-bearing demand deposits, savings, and time deposits; and certificates of deposit. It also offers accounts receivable loans, advanced restaurant financing loans, commercial loans, real estate loans, small business administration loans, and term loans; consumer loans; and overdraft facilities; as well as credit and debit cards. In addition, the company provides lending services, such as underwriting, processing, closing, servicing, and referral/replacement services to other financial institutions. Mission Valley Bancorp was founded in 2001 and is headquartered in Sun Valley, California.