Critical Survey: Plumas Bancorp (NASDAQ:PLBC) versus California First Leasing (OTCMKTS:CFNB)

Plumas Bancorp (NASDAQ:PLBC) and California First Leasing (OTCMKTS:CFNB) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, dividends, earnings, profitability, risk and valuation.

Profitability

This table compares Plumas Bancorp and California First Leasing’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Plumas Bancorp	26.67%	15.16%	1.76%
California First Leasing	N/A	N/A	N/A

Risk and Volatility

Plumas Bancorp has a beta of 0.62, meaning that its stock price is 38% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, California First Leasing has a beta of 0.3, meaning that its stock price is 70% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

41.7% of Plumas Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 6.5% of California First Leasing shares are held by institutional investors. 7.4% of Plumas Bancorp shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 92.2% of California First Leasing shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Plumas Bancorp and California First Leasing”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Plumas Bancorp	$112.17 million	3.52	$29.62 million	$4.72	11.99
California First Leasing	$30.12 million	10.12	N/A	N/A	N/A

Plumas Bancorp has higher revenue and earnings than California First Leasing.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings for Plumas Bancorp and California First Leasing, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Plumas Bancorp	0	0	4	0	3.00
California First Leasing	0	0	0	0	0.00

Plumas Bancorp currently has a consensus price target of $57.67, indicating a potential upside of 1.87%. Given Plumas Bancorp’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Plumas Bancorp is more favorable than California First Leasing.

Summary

Plumas Bancorp beats California First Leasing on 9 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Plumas Bancorp

Plumas Bancorp operates as the bank holding company for the Plumas Bank that provides various banking products and services for small and middle market businesses, and individuals in Northeastern California and Northwestern Nevada. The company accepts various deposits, such as checking, money market checking, business sweep, public funds sweep, savings, time deposit, and retirement accounts. Its loan portfolio comprises of term real estate, commercial, and industrial term loans; government-guaranteed and agricultural loans, as well as credit lines; consumer, automobile, and home equity loans; land development and construction loans; and small business administration loans. In addition, the company provides remote deposit, telephone and mobile banking, internet banking with bill-pay options, cashier's check, bank-by-mail, automated teller machine, night depository, safe deposit box, direct deposit, electronic funds transfer, and other customary banking services. Plumas Bancorp was founded in 1980 and is headquartered in Reno, Nevada.

About California First Leasing

California First Leasing Corporation provides loans and lease financing for universities, businesses, and other commercial or non-profit organizations. The company was formerly known as California First National Bancorp and changed its name to California First Leasing Corporation in February 2021. California First Leasing Corporation was founded in 1977 and is based in Newport Beach, California.