Comparing Banc of California (NYSE:BANC) and Jeffersonville Bancorp (OTCMKTS:JFBC)

Jeffersonville Bancorp (OTCMKTS:JFBC) and Banc of California (NYSE:BANC) are both finance companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, earnings, valuation, analyst recommendations, profitability, institutional ownership and risk.

Profitability

This table compares Jeffersonville Bancorp and Banc of California’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Jeffersonville Bancorp	N/A	13.02%	1.53%
Banc of California	-21.99%	2.12%	0.17%

Risk and Volatility

Jeffersonville Bancorp has a beta of 0.34, suggesting that its stock price is 66% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Banc of California has a beta of 1.14, suggesting that its stock price is 14% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for Jeffersonville Bancorp and Banc of California, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Jeffersonville Bancorp	0	0	0	0	N/A
Banc of California	0	5	3	0	2.38

Banc of California has a consensus target price of $15.69, indicating a potential upside of 7.16%. Given Banc of California’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Banc of California is more favorable than Jeffersonville Bancorp.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

86.9% of Banc of California shares are owned by institutional investors. 8.4% of Jeffersonville Bancorp shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 7.4% of Banc of California shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Jeffersonville Bancorp and Banc of California’s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Jeffersonville Bancorp	$32.18 million	2.53	$11.18 million	$2.48	7.76
Banc of California	$429.87 million	5.36	-$1.90 billion	($3.33)	-4.40

Jeffersonville Bancorp has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Banc of California. Banc of California is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Jeffersonville Bancorp, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Dividends

Jeffersonville Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.1%. Banc of California pays an annual dividend of $0.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.7%. Jeffersonville Bancorp pays out 24.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Banc of California pays out -12.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years.

Summary

Jeffersonville Bancorp beats Banc of California on 8 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Jeffersonville Bancorp

Jeffersonville Bancorp operates as the bank holding company for Jeff Bank that provides community banking services to individuals, small businesses, and local municipal governments primarily in Sullivan County, New York. The company offers various deposit products, such as checking, money market, savings, and NOW, as well as demand and time deposits. It also offers commercial mortgage, farmland, construction, real estate, agricultural, residential mortgage, home equity, consumer, installment, and other consumer loans. The company was founded in 1913 and is based in Jeffersonville, New York.

About Banc of California

Banc of California, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Banc of California that provides various banking products and services in California. The company offers deposit products, such as checking, savings, money market, demand, and time deposits; certificates of deposit; retirement accounts; and safe deposit boxes. It also provides real estate loans to professional developers and real estate investors for the acquisition, construction, refinancing, renovation, and on-going operation of commercial real estate properties; commercial real estate mortgage, residential real estate mortgage, and real estate construction and land loans; commercial loans and leases, such as equipment finance, other asset-based, venture capital, secured business, warehouse, and other lending services; small business administration loans; and consumer loans comprising personal, auto, and other loans, as well as home equity and revolving lines of credit. In addition, the company offers international banking, multi-state deposit, and asset and investment management services, as well as cash and treasury management services; and online, mobile, remote deposit, and telephone banking services. It serves small and middle-market businesses, venture capital firms, non-profit organizations, business owners, entrepreneurs, professionals, and high-net worth individuals. Banc of California, Inc. was founded in 1941 and is headquartered in Los Angeles, California.