American Business Bank (OTCMKTS:AMBZ) & BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF) Head to Head Contrast

American Business Bank (OTCMKTS:AMBZ) and BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF) are both finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, valuation, risk, profitability, institutional ownership, earnings and dividends.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

9.9% of American Business Bank shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 51.7% of BancFirst shares are held by institutional investors. 32.4% of BancFirst shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares American Business Bank and BancFirst’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
American Business Bank	25.23%	N/A	N/A
BancFirst	24.94%	14.16%	1.70%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares American Business Bank and BancFirst”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
American Business Bank	$183.26 million	2.66	$43.28 million	$5.18	10.56
BancFirst	$908.71 million	4.59	$216.35 million	$6.95	18.02

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

Risk and Volatility

American Business Bank has a beta of 0.47, meaning that its stock price is 53% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, BancFirst has a beta of 0.76, meaning that its stock price is 24% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

American Business Bank pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.8%. BancFirst pays an annual dividend of $1.96 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.6%. American Business Bank pays out 19.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. BancFirst pays out 28.2% 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. BancFirst has raised its dividend for 31 consecutive years. American Business Bank is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations for American Business Bank and BancFirst, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
American Business Bank	0	0	0	0	0.00
BancFirst	0	3	0	0	2.00

BancFirst has a consensus price target of $134.00, indicating a potential upside of 7.00%. Given BancFirst’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe BancFirst is more favorable than American Business Bank.

Summary

BancFirst beats American Business Bank on 13 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About American Business Bank

American Business Bank, a California-chartered bank, provides banking products and services to small and medium-sized firms, non-profits, business executives, and professionals in Southern California. The company offers credit and depository; treasury management; asset-based lending; SBA lending; international banking comprising money transfers, import and export commercial letters of credit, standby letters of credit, documentary and clean collections, and foreign currency exchange services; and consulting and referral services. It operates regional loan production offices located in North Orange County, Orange County, South Bay, San Fernando Valley, Riverside County, Inland Empire, and Long Beach. American Business Bank was incorporated in 1998 and is headquartered in Los Angeles, California.

About BancFirst

BancFirst Corporation operates as the bank holding company for BancFirst that provides a range of commercial banking services to retail customers, and small to medium-sized businesses. The company operates through BancFirst Metropolitan Banks, BancFirst Community Banks, Pegasus, Worthington, and Other Financial Services segments. It offers checking accounts, negotiable order of withdrawal accounts, savings accounts, money market accounts, sweep accounts, club accounts, individual retirement accounts, and certificates of deposit, as well as overdraft protection and auto draft services. The company also provides commercial and agricultural non-real estate loans for working capital, facilities acquisition or expansion, purchase of equipment, and other needs; lending services that include private banking, energy, commercial and residential real estate, and commercial and industrial loans; and loans to finance purchases of consumer goods, such as automobiles, boats, household goods, vacations, and education. In addition, it engages in the investment management and administration of trusts for individuals, corporations, and employee benefit plans, as well as bond trustee and paying agent business for various Oklahoma municipalities and governmental entities; and provision of item processing, research, and other correspondent banking services to financial institutions and governmental units. Further, the company provides insurance agency services; depository and funds transfer, collection, safe deposit box, cash management, and other services. It serves customers in non-metropolitan trade centers and cities in the metropolitan statistical areas of Oklahoma. The company was formerly known as United Community Corporation and changed its name to BancFirst Corporation in November 1988. BancFirst Corporation was incorporated in 1984 and is headquartered in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.