BV Financial (NASDAQ:BVFL) vs. National Bank (NYSE:NBHC) Critical Analysis

BV Financial (NASDAQ:BVFL) and National Bank (NYSE:NBHC) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, dividends, valuation, profitability, earnings and institutional ownership.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

42.7% of BV Financial shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 92.7% of National Bank shares are held by institutional investors. 15.7% of BV Financial shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 6.8% of National Bank 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.

Profitability

This table compares BV Financial and National Bank’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
BV Financial	25.01%	9.31%	1.91%
National Bank	15.11%	8.35%	1.13%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings for BV Financial and National Bank, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
BV Financial	0	0	1	0	3.00
National Bank	0	2	3	0	2.60

National Bank has a consensus price target of $44.67, indicating a potential upside of 17.94%. Given National Bank’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe National Bank is more favorable than BV Financial.

Volatility and Risk

BV Financial has a beta of 0.3, meaning that its stock price is 70% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, National Bank has a beta of 0.84, meaning that its stock price is 16% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares BV Financial and National Bank”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
BV Financial	$40.39 million	4.54	$13.49 million	$1.52	14.26
National Bank	$587.34 million	2.87	$109.57 million	$2.38	15.91

National Bank has higher revenue and earnings than BV Financial. BV Financial is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than National Bank, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

National Bank beats BV Financial on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About BV Financial

BV Financial, Inc. operates as the holding company for BayVanguard Bank that provides various financial services to individuals and businesses in Maryland. The company offers checking and money market accounts, savings accounts, and certificates of deposits. Its loan products include real estate, home equity, construction, lot, auto, boat, and other personal loans; and commercial lending products, such as commercial equipment/installation, commercial real estate, construction, investment real estate, lines of credit, and SBA loans, as well as loans for short-term real estate purchase, renovation, and sale projects. The company offers ATM, overdraft, safe deposit, bill pay, remote deposit capture, ACH origination, merchant, and online banking services. BV Financial, Inc. was founded in 1873 and is headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland.

About National Bank

National Bank Holdings Corporation operates as the bank holding company for NBH Bank that provides various banking products and financial services to commercial, business, and consumer clients in the United States. It offers deposit products, including checking, savings, money market, and other deposit accounts, including fixed-rate and fixed maturity time deposits. The company also provides commercial and industrial loans and leases, such as working capital loans, equipment loans, lender finance loans, food and agriculture loans, government and non-profit loans, owner occupied commercial real estate loans, and other commercial loans and leases; non-owner occupied commercial real estate loans consisting of loans on commercial properties, such as office buildings, warehouse/distribution buildings, multi-family, hospitality, and retail buildings; small business administration loans to support small businesses and entrepreneurs; term loans, line of credits, and real estate secured loans; residential real estate loans; and consumer loans. In addition, it offers treasury management solutions comprising online and mobile banking, commercial credit card, wire transfer, automated clearing house, electronic bill payment, lock box, remote deposit capture, merchant processing, cash vault, controlled disbursements, and fraud prevention services, as well as other auxiliary services, including account reconciliation, collections, repurchase accounts, zero balance accounts, and sweep accounts. The company operates through a network of banking centers located in Colorado, the greater Kansas City region, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming, Idaho, and Texas. It also operates ATMs. The company was formerly known as NBH Holdings Corp. and changed its name to National Bank Holdings Corporation in March 2012. The company was incorporated in 2009 and is headquartered in Greenwood Village, Colorado.