Comparing Solera National Bancorp (OTCMKTS:SLRK) & OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC)

Solera National Bancorp (OTCMKTS:SLRK) and OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, valuation, risk, earnings, analyst recommendations, dividends and institutional ownership.

Risk & Volatility

Solera National Bancorp has a beta of 0.5, suggesting that its share price is 50% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, OceanFirst Financial has a beta of 1.06, suggesting that its share price is 6% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Solera National Bancorp and OceanFirst Financial”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Solera National Bancorp	$75.25 million	0.57	$18.07 million	$4.20	2.36
OceanFirst Financial	$692.36 million	1.52	$100.07 million	$1.65	10.88

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

Insider & Institutional Ownership

71.0% of OceanFirst Financial shares are held by institutional investors. 17.4% of Solera National Bancorp shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 5.0% of OceanFirst Financial shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Solera National Bancorp and OceanFirst Financial’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Solera National Bancorp	24.01%	N/A	N/A
OceanFirst Financial	14.45%	5.75%	0.72%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Solera National Bancorp and OceanFirst Financial, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Solera National Bancorp	0	0	0	0	0.00
OceanFirst Financial	0	4	1	1	2.50

OceanFirst Financial has a consensus target price of $20.83, indicating a potential upside of 16.00%. Given OceanFirst Financial’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe OceanFirst Financial is more favorable than Solera National Bancorp.

Summary

OceanFirst Financial beats Solera National Bancorp on 12 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Solera National Bancorp

Solera National Bancorp, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Solera National Bank that provides commercial and consumer banking services in the United States. The company offers checking and savings accounts, money market accounts, time and demand deposits, and individual retirement accounts (IRA), as well as certificates of deposit; and real estate secured loans, construction loans, small business administration loans, business lines of credit, and equipment financing. It also provides online banking, account analysis, combined account analysis, commercial sweep, remote deposit, ACH origination, payroll direct deposit, merchant, business debit card, and cash management services. The company was incorporated in 2006 and is based in Lakewood, Colorado.

About OceanFirst Financial

OceanFirst Financial Corp. operates as the bank holding company for OceanFirst Bank N.A. that provides community banking services to retail and commercial customers. It accepts money market accounts, savings accounts, interest-bearing checking accounts, non-interest-bearing accounts, and time deposits, that includes brokered deposits to retail, government, and business customers. The company also offers commercial real estate, multi-family, land loans, construction, and commercial and industrial loans; fixed-rate and adjustable-rate mortgage loans that are secured by one-to-four family residences; and consumer loans, such as home equity loans and lines of credit, student loans, overdraft line of credit, loans on savings accounts, and other consumer loans. In addition, it invests in mortgage-backed securities, securities issued by the U.S. Government and agencies, corporate securities, and other investments. Further, the company offers bankcard, trust and asset management services; and bank owned life insurance products. The company was founded in 1902 and is based in Red Bank, New Jersey.