Reviewing Mission Valley Bancorp (OTCMKTS:MVLY) & Unity Bancorp (NASDAQ:UNTY)

Mission Valley Bancorp (OTCMKTS:MVLY) and Unity Bancorp (NASDAQ:UNTY) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, profitability, risk, valuation, earnings and analyst recommendations.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

5.7% of Mission Valley Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 42.3% of Unity Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. 28.9% of Unity Bancorp shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings for Mission Valley Bancorp and Unity Bancorp, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Mission Valley Bancorp	0	0	0	0	N/A
Unity Bancorp	0	0	0	0	N/A

Profitability

This table compares Mission Valley Bancorp and Unity Bancorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Mission Valley Bancorp	N/A	N/A	N/A
Unity Bancorp	24.92%	15.44%	1.52%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Mission Valley Bancorp and Unity Bancorp’s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Mission Valley Bancorp	N/A	N/A	$7.40 million	$2.22	6.08
Unity Bancorp	$151.64 million	1.84	$39.71 million	$3.81	7.22

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

Risk and Volatility

Mission Valley Bancorp has a beta of 0.47, meaning that its stock price is 53% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Unity Bancorp has a beta of 1.07, meaning that its stock price is 7% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Unity Bancorp beats Mission Valley Bancorp on 10 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Mission Valley Bancorp

Mission Valley Bancorp operates as the bank holding company for Mission Valley Bank and Mission SBA Loan Servicing LLC that provides various banking products and services to individuals and corporate customers. The company's deposit products include non-interest-bearing and interest-bearing demand deposits, and time deposits; and money market, savings accounts, as well as certificates of deposit. It also offers personal loans; accounts receivable; advanced restaurant financing; commercial loan, real estate loan, small business administration, term loans; and overdraft facilities; as well as credit and debit cards. In addition, the company provides lending services, such as underwriting, processing, closing, servicing, and referral/replacement services. Mission Valley Bancorp was founded in 2001 and is headquartered in Sun Valley, California.

About Unity Bancorp

Unity Bancorp, Inc. operates as a bank holding company for Unity Bank that provides range of commercial and retail banking services to individuals, small and medium sized businesses, and professional communities. It offers personal and business checking accounts, time deposits, money market accounts, savings accounts, and retirement accounts, as well as noninterest and interest-bearing demand deposits. The company also provides small business administration loans; commercial loans; and residential mortgage and consumer loans, including residential real estate, home equity lines and loans, and residential construction lines, as well as personal loans. In addition, it offers credit and debit cards, wire transfer, safe deposit box, automated teller, and internet and mobile banking services; and automated clearing house origination and remote deposit capture services. Unity Bancorp, Inc. was incorporated in 1991 and is headquartered in Clinton, New Jersey.