Comparing Malaga Financial (OTCMKTS:MLGF) & Plumas Bancorp (NASDAQ:PLBC)

Plumas Bancorp (NASDAQ:PLBC) and Malaga Financial (OTCMKTS:MLGF) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, risk, valuation, earnings and dividends.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Plumas Bancorp and Malaga Financial”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Plumas Bancorp	$93.11 million	3.34	$28.62 million	$4.27	10.46
Malaga Financial	N/A	N/A	$22.65 million	$2.19	10.11

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

Dividends

Plumas Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.7%. Malaga Financial pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.5%. Plumas Bancorp pays out 28.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Malaga Financial pays out 45.7% 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. Plumas Bancorp has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years.

Profitability

This table compares Plumas Bancorp and Malaga Financial’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Plumas Bancorp	25.80%	15.30%	1.73%
Malaga Financial	N/A	N/A	N/A

Risk & Volatility

Plumas Bancorp has a beta of 0.6, meaning that its stock price is 40% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Malaga Financial has a beta of 0.09, meaning that its stock price is 91% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for Plumas Bancorp and Malaga Financial, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Plumas Bancorp	0	0	3	0	3.00
Malaga Financial	0	0	0	0	0.00

Plumas Bancorp currently has a consensus price target of $55.50, indicating a potential upside of 24.22%. Given Plumas Bancorp’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Plumas Bancorp is more favorable than Malaga Financial.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

41.7% of Plumas Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 1.2% of Malaga Financial shares are held by institutional investors. 9.0% of Plumas Bancorp shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Plumas Bancorp beats Malaga Financial on 15 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Plumas Bancorp

Plumas Bancorp operates as the bank holding company for the Plumas Bank that provides various banking products and services for small and middle market businesses, and individuals in Northeastern California and Northwestern Nevada. The company accepts various deposits, such as checking, money market checking, business sweep, public funds sweep, savings, time deposit, and retirement accounts. Its loan portfolio comprises of term real estate, commercial, and industrial term loans; government-guaranteed and agricultural loans, as well as credit lines; consumer, automobile, and home equity loans; land development and construction loans; and small business administration loans. In addition, the company provides remote deposit, telephone and mobile banking, internet banking with bill-pay options, cashier's check, bank-by-mail, automated teller machine, night depository, safe deposit box, direct deposit, electronic funds transfer, and other customary banking services. Plumas Bancorp was founded in 1980 and is headquartered in Reno, Nevada.

About Malaga Financial

Malaga Financial Corporation operates as the holding company for Malaga Bank that provides various community banking products and services to personal and business customers. It offers checking, savings, NOW, and money market accounts, certificates of deposits, business banking, consumer, and demand deposits. The company also provides commercial real estate, single and multi-family residential mortgage, consumer, 14-unit investment property, construction, personal, and business loans; home equity lines of credit; and certificates of deposit. In addition, it offers coupon redemption, direct deposit, overdraft lines of credit, telephone transfers, U.S. savings bond redemption, and wire transfer services; and ATM and VISA debit cards, bank by mail, medallion signature guarantee, night depository, notary, safe deposit boxes, and trust deed note collection services. Further, the company provides online banking services, including bill payer, e-statements, and mobile banking services. The company was incorporated in 2002 and is headquartered in Palos Verdes Estates, California.