Contrasting ACNB (NASDAQ:ACNB) & BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF)

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

Insider & Institutional Ownership

32.4% of ACNB shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 51.7% of BancFirst shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.5% of ACNB shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 32.4% of BancFirst shares are owned by company 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.

Dividends

ACNB pays an annual dividend of $1.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.2%. BancFirst pays an annual dividend of $1.96 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.7%. ACNB pays out 50.6% 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. ACNB has raised its dividend for 8 consecutive years and BancFirst has raised its dividend for 31 consecutive years.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares ACNB and BancFirst”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
ACNB	$132.20 million	3.40	$31.85 million	$2.69	15.97
BancFirst	$908.71 million	4.20	$216.35 million	$6.95	16.50

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

Volatility & Risk

ACNB has a beta of 0.95, suggesting that its stock price is 5% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, BancFirst has a beta of 0.76, suggesting that its stock price is 24% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for ACNB and BancFirst, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
ACNB	0	2	2	0	2.50
BancFirst	0	3	1	0	2.25

ACNB presently has a consensus price target of $49.25, suggesting a potential upside of 14.64%. BancFirst has a consensus price target of $134.00, suggesting a potential upside of 16.85%. Given BancFirst’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe BancFirst is more favorable than ACNB.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
ACNB	15.64%	10.22%	1.25%
BancFirst	24.94%	14.16%	1.70%

Summary

BancFirst beats ACNB on 13 of the 17 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 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.