Head to Head Survey: First Northern Community Bancorp (OTCMKTS:FNRN) & TriCo Bancshares (NASDAQ:TCBK)

First Northern Community Bancorp (OTCMKTS:FNRN) and TriCo Bancshares (NASDAQ:TCBK) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, valuation, institutional ownership, dividends, earnings, profitability and risk.

Volatility and Risk

First Northern Community Bancorp has a beta of 0.23, meaning that its share price is 77% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, TriCo Bancshares has a beta of 0.63, meaning that its share price is 37% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares First Northern Community Bancorp and TriCo Bancshares’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
First Northern Community Bancorp	23.58%	11.03%	1.08%
TriCo Bancshares	21.11%	8.99%	1.14%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares First Northern Community Bancorp and TriCo Bancshares”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
First Northern Community Bancorp	$84.67 million	2.41	$20.03 million	$1.28	10.14
TriCo Bancshares	$394.54 million	3.40	$114.87 million	$3.40	12.11

TriCo Bancshares has higher revenue and earnings than First Northern Community Bancorp. First Northern Community Bancorp is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than TriCo Bancshares, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for First Northern Community Bancorp and TriCo Bancshares, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
First Northern Community Bancorp	0	0	0	0	0.00
TriCo Bancshares	0	4	3	0	2.43

TriCo Bancshares has a consensus price target of $47.60, suggesting a potential upside of 15.62%. Given TriCo Bancshares’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe TriCo Bancshares is more favorable than First Northern Community Bancorp.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

17.9% of First Northern Community Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 59.1% of TriCo Bancshares shares are held by institutional investors. 11.8% of First Northern Community Bancorp shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 4.8% of TriCo Bancshares shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

TriCo Bancshares beats First Northern Community Bancorp on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About First Northern Community Bancorp

First Northern Community Bancorp operates as the bank holding company for First Northern Bank of Dixon that provides commercial banking products and services to individuals, and small and medium sized businesses. The company accepts demand deposits, interest-bearing transaction deposits, savings and money market deposit accounts, and time deposits. It also offers commercial, commercial real estate, agriculture, residential mortgage, residential construction, and consumer loans. In addition, the company provides debit and credit cards; investment and brokerage services; alternative investment products, and fiduciary and other financial services; and equipment leasing, merchant card processing, payroll, and international banking services through third parties. Further, it offers cashier's checks, safe deposit boxes, and other customary banking services. The company operates branches located in the cities of Auburn, Colusa, Davis, Dixon, Fairfield, Orland, Rancho Cordova, Roseville, Sacramento, Vacaville, West Sacramento, Winters, Willows, and Woodland; satellite banking office inside a retirement community in the city of Davis; residential mortgage loan office in Davis; and commercial loan office in the Contra Costa County city of Walnut Creek. First Northern Community Bancorp was founded in 1910 and is headquartered in Dixon, California.

About TriCo Bancshares

TriCo Bancshares operates as a bank holding company for Tri Counties Bank that provides commercial banking services to individual and corporate customers. The company accepts demand, savings, and time deposits. It also provides small business loans; real estate mortgage loans, such as residential and commercial loans; consumer loans; mortgage, auto, other vehicle, and personal loans; commercial loans, including agricultural loans; and real estate construction loans. In addition, the company offers treasury management services; credit and debit cards; and other customary banking services, including safe deposit boxes; and independent financial and broker-dealer services. Further, it provides checking, saving, and money market accounts, as well as individual retirement accounts; equipment financing; certificate of deposit account registry service; certificated of deposit; and IntraFi cash service. TriCo Bancshares was founded in 1975 and is headquartered in Chico, California.