Critical Survey: American Bank (OTCMKTS:AMBK) & BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF)

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

Insider and Institutional Ownership

51.7% of BancFirst shares are held by institutional investors. 33.9% of BancFirst shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for American Bank and BancFirst, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
American Bank	0	0	0	0	N/A
BancFirst	1	1	0	0	1.50

BancFirst has a consensus target price of $85.50, suggesting a potential downside of 7.43%. Given BancFirst’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe BancFirst is more favorable than American Bank.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares American Bank and BancFirst’s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
American Bank	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
BancFirst	$809.34 million	3.76	$212.46 million	$6.12	15.09

BancFirst has higher revenue and earnings than American Bank.

Dividends

American Bank pays an annual dividend of $0.56 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.5%. BancFirst pays an annual dividend of $1.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.9%. BancFirst pays out 28.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. BancFirst has increased its dividend for 30 consecutive years.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
American Bank	N/A	N/A	N/A
BancFirst	26.25%	14.85%	1.69%

Risk and Volatility

American Bank has a beta of 0.05, meaning that its stock price is 95% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, BancFirst has a beta of 1.09, meaning that its stock price is 9% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

BancFirst beats American Bank on 9 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About American Bank

American Bank Incorporated operates as the bank holding company for American Bank that provides various banking products and services to consumer, business, institutional, and governmental customers. It accepts a range of interest-bearing checking and money market accounts, savings accounts, certificates of deposit, and individual retirement accounts. The company also offers commercial, industrial, and other loans; commercial mortgage loans; commercial construction loans; residential mortgage loans; and consumer loans, including personal term loans, personal credit lines, automobile loans, home equity loans, and home equity lines of credit and loans. In addition, it provides online or mobile banking, automated teller machine, safe deposit box rental, and wire transfer services, as well as sells checks and checkbooks, and purchases investment securities. The company operates an office located in Allentown, Pennsylvania; and a loan production office in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania. The company was founded in 1997 and is based in Allentown, 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.