Reviewing Banner (NASDAQ:BANR) and Fvcbankcorp (NASDAQ:FVCB)

Fvcbankcorp (NASDAQ:FVCB) and Banner (NASDAQ:BANR) are both finance companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, risk, earnings, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, valuation and profitability.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

43.6% of Fvcbankcorp shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 87.3% of Banner shares are owned by institutional investors. 11.2% of Fvcbankcorp shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.4% of Banner shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility & Risk

Fvcbankcorp has a beta of 0.34, indicating that its stock price is 66% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Banner has a beta of 0.83, indicating that its stock price is 17% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Fvcbankcorp and Banner’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Fvcbankcorp	21.32%	10.11%	1.13%
Banner	22.81%	10.44%	1.25%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Fvcbankcorp and Banner”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Fvcbankcorp	$74.89 million	3.93	$22.06 million	$1.48	11.02
Banner	$877.77 million	2.87	$195.38 million	$5.88	11.77

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for Fvcbankcorp and Banner, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Fvcbankcorp	0	0	2	0	3.00
Banner	0	4	2	0	2.33

Fvcbankcorp presently has a consensus target price of $21.00, indicating a potential upside of 28.79%. Banner has a consensus target price of $75.75, indicating a potential upside of 9.49%. Given Fvcbankcorp’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe Fvcbankcorp is more favorable than Banner.

Dividends

Fvcbankcorp pays an annual dividend of $0.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.7%. Banner pays an annual dividend of $2.08 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.0%. Fvcbankcorp pays out 18.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Banner pays out 35.4% 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.

Summary

Banner beats Fvcbankcorp on 10 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Fvcbankcorp

FVCBankcorp, Inc. is the bank holding company for FVCbank, a community bank serving businesses, professionals, nonprofit organizations and individuals in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area, including Northern Virginia and Maryland. FVCbank offers deposit accounts and commercial lending, including commercial real estate, construction and business loans. Its services also include cash management and other treasury management solutions designed to support business clients. The bank began operations in 2007 and is headquartered in Fairfax, Virginia.

About Banner

Banner Corporation is a bank holding company and the parent of Banner Bank, a community bank serving individuals, businesses and organizations in the western United States. The company traces its roots to the First National Bank of Walla Walla, established in Washington in 1890. Through Banner Bank, the company offers deposit accounts, business and consumer lending, residential mortgage services, and commercial banking solutions. Its services also include treasury management and wealth management.