First Commonwealth Financial (NYSE:FCF) & OptimumBank (NASDAQ:OPHC) Head to Head Review

OptimumBank (NASDAQ:OPHC) and First Commonwealth Financial (NYSE:FCF) 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, profitability, earnings, analyst recommendations, valuation, risk and dividends.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for OptimumBank and First Commonwealth Financial, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
OptimumBank	0	1	0	0	2.00
First Commonwealth Financial	0	3	3	0	2.50

OptimumBank presently has a consensus price target of $5.25, suggesting a potential upside of 14.13%. First Commonwealth Financial has a consensus price target of $19.58, suggesting a potential upside of 14.42%. Given First Commonwealth Financial’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe First Commonwealth Financial is more favorable than OptimumBank.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares OptimumBank and First Commonwealth Financial”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
OptimumBank	$39.23 million	1.18	$6.28 million	$1.32	3.48
First Commonwealth Financial	$699.69 million	2.49	$142.57 million	$1.39	12.31

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

Institutional & Insider Ownership

7.4% of OptimumBank shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 72.6% of First Commonwealth Financial shares are held by institutional investors. 13.9% of OptimumBank shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 2.0% of First Commonwealth Financial 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.

Risk and Volatility

OptimumBank has a beta of 0.37, suggesting that its stock price is 63% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, First Commonwealth Financial has a beta of 0.87, suggesting that its stock price is 13% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares OptimumBank and First Commonwealth Financial’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
OptimumBank	19.62%	14.10%	1.31%
First Commonwealth Financial	20.38%	10.36%	1.22%

Summary

First Commonwealth Financial beats OptimumBank on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About OptimumBank

OptimumBank Holdings, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for OptimumBank that provides various consumer and commercial banking services to individuals and businesses. It accepts demand interest-bearing and noninterest-bearing, savings, money market, and NOW accounts, as well as time deposits, wire transfers, ACH services, and certificates of deposit. The company also offers residential and commercial real estate, multi-family real estate, land and construction loans; commercial loans are generally used for working capital purposes or for acquiring equipment, inventory, and furniture; and consumer loans for various purposes, including purchases of automobiles, recreational vehicles, boats, home improvements, lines of credit, personal, and deposit account collateralized loans. In addition, it provides Visa debit and ATM cards; cash management, notary, and night depository services; and direct deposits, money orders, cashier's checks, domestic collections, and banking by mail, as well as internet banking services. The company was founded in 2000 and is based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

About First Commonwealth Financial

First Commonwealth Financial Corporation, a financial holding company, provides various consumer and commercial banking services in the United States. Its consumer services include personal checking accounts, interest-earning checking accounts, savings and health savings accounts, insured money market accounts, debit cards, investment certificates, fixed and variable rate certificates of deposit, mortgage loans, secured and unsecured installment loans, construction and real estate loans, safe deposit facilities, credit cards, credit lines with overdraft checking protection, IRA accounts, and automated teller machine (atm) services, as well as internet, mobile, and telephone banking services. The company's commercial banking services comprise commercial lending, business checking accounts, online account management services, payroll direct deposits, commercial cash management services, and repurchase agreements, as well as ACH origination services. In addition, it offers various trust and asset management services; auto, home, and business insurance, as well as term life insurance; and annuities, mutual funds, and stock and bond brokerage services through a broker-dealer and insurance brokers. The company was founded in 1934 and is headquartered in Indiana, Pennsylvania.