Contrasting Pacific Valley Bancorp (OTCMKTS:PVBK) & First Financial Bankshares (NASDAQ:FFIN)

Pacific Valley Bancorp (OTCMKTS:PVBK) and First Financial Bankshares (NASDAQ:FFIN) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, risk, valuation, dividends, profitability, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Pacific Valley Bancorp and First Financial Bankshares”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Pacific Valley Bancorp	$33.09 million	1.72	$3.59 million	$0.71	14.79
First Financial Bankshares	$833.20 million	4.98	$253.58 million	$1.77	16.36

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

Volatility & Risk

Pacific Valley Bancorp has a beta of 0.19, meaning that its stock price is 81% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, First Financial Bankshares has a beta of 0.83, meaning that its stock price is 17% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Pacific Valley Bancorp and First Financial Bankshares’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Pacific Valley Bancorp	10.85%	N/A	N/A
First Financial Bankshares	30.43%	14.16%	1.72%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for Pacific Valley Bancorp and First Financial Bankshares, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Pacific Valley Bancorp	0	0	0	0	0.00
First Financial Bankshares	0	3	1	0	2.25

First Financial Bankshares has a consensus price target of $38.00, indicating a potential upside of 31.24%. Given First Financial Bankshares’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe First Financial Bankshares is more favorable than Pacific Valley Bancorp.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

2.8% of Pacific Valley Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 69.8% of First Financial Bankshares shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.8% of First Financial Bankshares shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

First Financial Bankshares beats Pacific Valley Bancorp on 14 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Pacific Valley Bancorp

Pacific Valley Bancorp operates as the bank holding company for Pacific Valley Bank that provides various banking products and services in the United States. The company offers personal and business banking, including checking accounts, savings and money market accounts, and certificates of deposit; and online solutions, such as online and mobile banking, bill pay, remote deposit capture, positive pay, e-statements, and order checks. It also provides commercial or agriculture lines of credit, commercial or agriculture terms loans, commercial constructions loans, agriculture production lending, and government guaranteed loan programs; and debit card, incoming wire instructions, ATM locator, fraud prevention, identity theft, and FDIC insurance estimator services. The company was founded in 2004 and is headquartered in Salinas, California.

About First Financial Bankshares

First Financial Bankshares, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides commercial banking products and services in Texas. The company offers checking, savings and time deposits; automated teller machines, drive-in, and night deposit services; safe deposit facilities, remote deposit capture, internet banking, mobile banking, payroll cards, funds transfer, and performing other customary commercial banking services; securities brokerage services; and trust and wealth management services, including wealth management, estates administration, oil and gas management, testamentary trusts, revocable and irrevocable trusts, and agency accounts. It also provides commercial and industrial, municipal, agricultural, construction and development, farm, residential, and consumer auto and non-auto, as well as non-owner occupied and owner occupied commercial real estate loans. In addition, the company offers advisory and specialized services related to asset management, investing, purchasing, advertising, public relations, and technology services. First Financial Bankshares, Inc. was founded in 1890 and is headquartered in Abilene, Texas.