Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) versus FirstSun Capital Bancorp (NASDAQ:FSUN) Head to Head Contrast

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) and FirstSun Capital Bancorp (NASDAQ:FSUN) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, valuation, institutional ownership, dividends, profitability, earnings and risk.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Associated Banc	19.31%	10.25%	1.07%
FirstSun Capital Bancorp	17.19%	9.00%	1.19%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

83.0% of Associated Banc shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.7% of Associated Banc shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 12.5% of FirstSun Capital Bancorp shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Risk & Volatility

Associated Banc has a beta of 0.77, suggesting that its share price is 23% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, FirstSun Capital Bancorp has a beta of 0.71, suggesting that its share price is 29% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Associated Banc and FirstSun Capital Bancorp, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Associated Banc	0	6	6	0	2.50
FirstSun Capital Bancorp	0	1	5	0	2.83

Associated Banc currently has a consensus target price of $29.60, indicating a potential upside of 5.21%. FirstSun Capital Bancorp has a consensus target price of $45.33, indicating a potential upside of 15.88%. Given FirstSun Capital Bancorp’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe FirstSun Capital Bancorp is more favorable than Associated Banc.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Associated Banc and FirstSun Capital Bancorp”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Associated Banc	$1.48 billion	3.14	$474.78 million	$2.77	10.16
FirstSun Capital Bancorp	$409.04 million	2.67	$97.94 million	$3.46	11.31

Associated Banc has higher revenue and earnings than FirstSun Capital Bancorp. Associated Banc 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

Associated Banc beats FirstSun Capital Bancorp on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Associated Banc

Associated Banc-Corp, a bank holding company, provides various banking and nonbanking products to individuals and businesses in Wisconsin, Illinois, and Minnesota. The company offers lending solutions, including commercial loans and lines of credit, commercial real estate financing, construction loans, letters of credit, leasing, asset based lending and equipment finance, loan syndications products, residential mortgages, home equity loans and lines of credit, personal and installment loans, auto finance and business loans, and business lines of credit. It also provides deposit and cash management solutions, such as commercial checking and interest-bearing deposit products, cash vault and night depository services, liquidity solutions, payables and receivables solutions, and information services; specialized financial services, such as interest rate risk management and foreign exchange solutions; fiduciary services, such as administration of pension, profit-sharing and other employee benefit plans, fiduciary and corporate agency services, and institutional asset management services; and investable funds solutions, including savings, money market deposit accounts, IRA accounts, CDs, fixed and variable annuities, full-service, discount, and online investment brokerage; investment advisory services; and trust and investment management accounts. In addition, the company offers deposit and transactional solutions, including checking, credit, debit and pre-paid cards, online banking and bill pay; and money transfer services. Associated Banc-Corp was founded in 1861 and is headquartered in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

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.