Financial Contrast: ACNB (NASDAQ:ACNB) and BayFirst Financial (NASDAQ:BAFN)

ACNB (NASDAQ:ACNB) and BayFirst Financial (NASDAQ:BAFN) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, earnings, analyst recommendations, profitability, risk and dividends.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

32.3% of ACNB shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 16.9% of BayFirst Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.7% of ACNB shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 56.6% of BayFirst Financial shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for ACNB and BayFirst Financial, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
ACNB	0	2	2	0	2.50
BayFirst Financial	1	0	0	0	1.00

ACNB presently has a consensus price target of $64.50, suggesting a potential downside of 1.21%. Given ACNB’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe ACNB is more favorable than BayFirst Financial.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares ACNB and BayFirst Financial”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
ACNB	$161.34 million	4.12	$37.05 million	$5.40	12.09
BayFirst Financial	$104.19 million	1.56	-$22.94 million	($14.88)	-0.40

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

Profitability

This table compares ACNB and BayFirst Financial’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
ACNB	27.16%	13.87%	1.79%
BayFirst Financial	-80.74%	-101.15%	-4.83%

Risk and Volatility

ACNB has a beta of 0.87, meaning that its stock price is 13% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, BayFirst Financial has a beta of 0.52, meaning that its stock price is 48% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

ACNB beats BayFirst Financial on 13 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About ACNB

ACNB Corporation, a financial holding company, offers banking, insurance, and financial services to individual, business, and government customers in the United States. The company provides checking, savings, and money market deposit accounts, as well as time deposits and debit cards. It also offers commercial lending products, such as commercial mortgages, real estate development and construction loans, accounts receivable and inventory financing, and agricultural and governmental loans; consumer lending products, including home equity loans and lines of credit, automobile and recreational vehicle loans, manufactured housing loans, and personal lines of credit; and mortgage lending programs include personal residential mortgages, and residential construction and investment mortgage loans. In addition, the company provides other services that are related to testamentary trusts, life insurance trusts, charitable remainder trusts, guardianships, powers of attorney, custodial accounts, and investment management and advisory accounts; and retail brokerage services. Further, it acts as a trustee to invest in, protect, manage, and distribute financial assets. Additionally, the company offers property and casualty, health, life, and disability insurance products to commercial and personal clients; and online, telephone, and mobile banking, as well as automated teller machine services. ACNB Corporation was founded in 1857 and is headquartered in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

About BayFirst Financial

BayFirst Financial Corp. operates as the bank holding company for BayFirst National Bank that provides community banking services for businesses and individuals. The company offers checking, savings, NOW, and money market deposit accounts, as well as certificates of deposit and individual retirement account; and safety deposit boxes. It also provides commercial real estate mortgages; construction and development, working capital, and business loans; auto, boat, and recreational vehicle loans; and residential mortgages, personal lines of credit, and home equity lines of credit. In addition, the company offers mobile and online banking, treasury management, wire transfers, cash management, merchant processing, remote deposit capture, night depositor, online bill payment, courier, retail investment, ACH originations, and other services. It operates full-service banking centers in St. Petersburg, Seminole, Pinellas Park, Clearwater, Sarasota, Tampa, Belleair Bluffs, and Bradenton, Florida. The company was formerly known as First Home Bancorp, Inc. and changed its name to BayFirst Financial Corp. in May 2021. BayFirst Financial Corp. was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in St. Petersburg, Florida.