Bay National (OTCMKTS:BAYN) and First Bancshares (NASDAQ:FBMS) Financial Survey

First Bancshares (NASDAQ:FBMS) and Bay National (OTCMKTS:BAYN) are both finance companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, dividends, profitability, analyst recommendations, valuation, earnings and institutional ownership.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

69.9% of First Bancshares shares are held by institutional investors. 3.5% of First Bancshares shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 17.8% of Bay National 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.

Volatility and Risk

First Bancshares has a beta of 0.93, meaning that its share price is 7% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Bay National has a beta of 1.56, meaning that its share price is 56% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for First Bancshares and Bay National, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
First Bancshares	0	2	2	0	2.50
Bay National	0	0	0	0	0.00

First Bancshares presently has a consensus price target of $37.17, indicating a potential upside of 2.25%. Given First Bancshares’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe First Bancshares is more favorable than Bay National.

Profitability

This table compares First Bancshares and Bay National’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
First Bancshares	17.25%	8.19%	1.00%
Bay National	N/A	N/A	N/A

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares First Bancshares and Bay National”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
First Bancshares	$267.28 million	4.24	$75.46 million	$2.21	16.45
Bay National	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

First Bancshares has higher revenue and earnings than Bay National.

Summary

First Bancshares beats Bay National on 8 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

About First Bancshares

The First Bancshares, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for The First Bank that provides general commercial and retail banking services. The company operates through three segments: Commercial/Retail Bank, Mortgage Banking Division, and Holding Company. It offers deposit services, including checking, NOW, and savings accounts; other time deposits, such as daily money market accounts and longer-term certificates of deposit; and individual retirement and health savings accounts. The company also provides commercial loans comprising secured and unsecured loans for working capital, business expansion, and purchase of equipment and machinery; consumer loans consisting of equity lines of credit, as well as secured and unsecured loans for financing automobiles, home improvements, education, and personal investments; and real estate construction and acquisition loans. In addition, it originates loans to purchase existing residential homes, construct new homes, and to refinance existing mortgages; and provides financial and wealth management services. Further, the company offers online internet banking services, automated teller machines, voice response telephone inquiry services, commercial sweep accounts, cash management services, safe deposit boxes, merchant services, mobile deposit, direct deposit of payroll and social security checks, automatic drafts for various accounts, and credit card services. It serves small to medium-sized businesses, professional concerns, individuals, associations, organizations, and governmental authorities. The company operates full-service banking and financial service offices, motor bank facility, and loan production offices in Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and Louisiana. The First Bancshares, Inc. was incorporated in 1995 and is headquartered in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.

About Bay National

Bay National Corp. operates as a bank holding company. It offers loans, deposits, investments and other banking and financial services through its subsidiary, Bay National Bank. The company was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Lutherville, MD.