Head-To-Head Review: California BanCorp (NASDAQ:CALB) and CNB Financial (NASDAQ:CCNE)

CNB Financial (NASDAQ:CCNE) and California BanCorp (NASDAQ:CALB) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their risk, dividends, earnings, profitability, valuation, institutional ownership and analyst recommendations.

Profitability

This table compares CNB Financial and California BanCorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
CNB Financial	15.96%	10.85%	0.95%
California BanCorp	18.96%	11.55%	1.08%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for CNB Financial and California BanCorp, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
CNB Financial	0	1	0	0	2.00
California BanCorp	0	0	3	0	3.00

CNB Financial currently has a consensus price target of $22.00, suggesting a potential upside of 15.36%. California BanCorp has a consensus price target of $24.25, suggesting a potential upside of 9.78%. Given CNB Financial’s higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe CNB Financial is more favorable than California BanCorp.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

52.4% of CNB Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 59.5% of California BanCorp shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.8% of CNB Financial shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 10.8% of California BanCorp shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares CNB Financial and California BanCorp’s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
CNB Financial	$327.03 million	1.23	$58.02 million	$2.38	8.01
California BanCorp	$114.08 million	1.63	$21.63 million	$2.56	8.63

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

Volatility & Risk

CNB Financial has a beta of 0.78, suggesting that its share price is 22% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, California BanCorp has a beta of 0.92, suggesting that its share price is 8% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

California BanCorp beats CNB Financial on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About CNB Financial

CNB Financial Corporation operates as the bank holding company for CNB Bank that provides a range of banking products and services for individual, business, governmental, and institutional customers. The company accepts checking, savings, and time deposit accounts; and offers real estate, commercial, industrial, residential, and consumer loans, as well as various other specialized financial services. It also provides private banking; and wealth and asset management services, including the administration of trusts and estates, retirement plans, and other employee benefit plans, as well as a range of wealth management services. In addition, the company invests in debt and equity securities; sells nonproprietary annuities and other insurance products; and offers small balance unsecured loans and secured loans primarily collateralized by automobiles and equipment, as well as engages in consumer discount loan and finance business. The company was founded in 1865 and is headquartered in Clearfield, Pennsylvania.

About California BanCorp

California BanCorp operates as the bank holding company for California Bank of Commerce that provides commercial banking services to businesses and professionals in California. It accepts various deposit products, including commercial checking, savings, and money market accounts, as well as certificates of deposit. The company also offers asset-based lending loans; commercial letters of credit; construction and development loans; real estate loans, such as commercial real estate loans and other loans; small business administration (SBA) loans, including SBA 7(a) and SBA 504 loans; consumer loans, such as secured and unsecured installment loans, and revolving lines of credit; and commercial and industrial loans, including term loans, working capital, accounts receivable and inventory financing, and other business loans to the dental and veterinary industries, contractors, and emerging companies. In addition, it provides foreign exchange, treasury and cash management, and online and mobile banking services. California BanCorp was founded in 2007 and is headquartered in Oakland, California.