Contrasting FinWise Bancorp (NASDAQ:FINW) & Private Bancorp of America (OTCMKTS:PBAM)

FinWise Bancorp (NASDAQ:FINW) and Private Bancorp of America (OTCMKTS:PBAM) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, earnings, dividends, profitability, risk, institutional ownership and analyst recommendations.

Profitability

This table compares FinWise Bancorp and Private Bancorp of America’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
FinWise Bancorp	12.72%	7.70%	1.76%
Private Bancorp of America	24.17%	17.81%	1.68%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

35.4% of FinWise Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 13.5% of Private Bancorp of America shares are owned by institutional investors. 21.3% of FinWise Bancorp shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for FinWise Bancorp and Private Bancorp of America, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
FinWise Bancorp	0	0	4	0	3.00
Private Bancorp of America	0	1	1	1	3.00

FinWise Bancorp presently has a consensus target price of $20.88, indicating a potential upside of 8.33%. Private Bancorp of America has a consensus target price of $80.00, indicating a potential upside of 36.75%. Given Private Bancorp of America’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Private Bancorp of America is more favorable than FinWise Bancorp.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares FinWise Bancorp and Private Bancorp of America”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
FinWise Bancorp	$96.84 million	2.69	$12.74 million	$0.97	19.87
Private Bancorp of America	$161.24 million	2.10	$35.82 million	$7.02	8.33

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

Risk and Volatility

FinWise Bancorp has a beta of 0.82, suggesting that its stock price is 18% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Private Bancorp of America has a beta of 0.3, suggesting that its stock price is 70% less volatile than the S&P 500.

About FinWise Bancorp

FinWise Bancorp operates as the bank holding company for FinWise Bank that provides various banking products and services to individual and corporate customers in Utah. The company offers various deposit products, including interest and noninterest bearing demand accounts, health savings account demand deposits, NOW and money market accounts, and checking and savings accounts, as well as time deposits and certificates of deposits. It also provides loans, including consumer, small business administration, commercial, commercial real estate, and residential real estate loans. In addition, the company offers debit cards, remote deposit capture, online banking, mobile banking, and direct deposit services; and business accounts and cash management services, such as business checking and savings accounts, and treasury services. FinWise Bancorp was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Murray, Utah.

About Private Bancorp of America

Private Bancorp of America, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for CalPrivate Bank that provides banking products and services to individuals and businesses in California. The company offers checking and savings, money market, certificate of deposit, sweep, zero balance, and individual retirement accounts; unsecured lines of credit, personal credit lines, and term loans; additional services, such as direct deposits, online banking, ATM and debit cards, credit cards, savings/line of credit overdraft protection, and safe deposit boxes; and certificate of deposit account registry services. It also provides treasury management, merchant card, bill pay, positive pay, e-statement, remote deposit capture, ACH origination, wire transfer, electronic payments and collections, electronic check acceptance, account reconciliation, cash vault, and gift and business credit cards, as well as funds management services. In addition, the company offers term credit facilities and loans, equipment and business expansion loans, working capital lines of credit, commercial real estate financing, construction financing, letters of credit, business start-up loans, loans for business acquisition and partner buyouts, owner-occupied commercial real estate loans, equipment, furniture and fixture, and other loans; and CDARS And ICS products. Further, it provides wealth management and legal services. The company has offices in La Jolla, San Diego, Coronado, Newport Beach, Beverly Hills, El Segundo, Temecula, Mission Valley, and Redlands. Private Bancorp of America, Inc. was founded in 2006 and is headquartered in La Jolla, California.