Analyzing Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR) and Nicolet Bankshares (NYSE:NIC)

Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR) and Nicolet Bankshares (NYSE:NIC) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, analyst recommendations, profitability, dividends, institutional ownership, risk and earnings.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Sandy Spring Bancorp and Nicolet Bankshares”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Sandy Spring Bancorp	$404.22 million	3.36	$19.93 million	$0.45	66.78
Nicolet Bankshares	$349.12 million	5.11	$124.06 million	$8.03	14.57

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

Risk & Volatility

Sandy Spring Bancorp has a beta of 0.97, meaning that its share price is 3% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Nicolet Bankshares has a beta of 0.76, meaning that its share price is 24% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

66.9% of Sandy Spring Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 43.1% of Nicolet Bankshares shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.4% of Sandy Spring Bancorp shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 16.4% of Nicolet Bankshares shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Dividends

Sandy Spring Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.5%. Nicolet Bankshares pays an annual dividend of $1.12 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.0%. Sandy Spring Bancorp pays out 302.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Nicolet Bankshares pays out 13.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Profitability

This table compares Sandy Spring Bancorp and Nicolet Bankshares’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Sandy Spring Bancorp	2.65%	5.31%	0.61%
Nicolet Bankshares	23.83%	10.95%	1.41%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Sandy Spring Bancorp and Nicolet Bankshares, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Sandy Spring Bancorp	0	3	0	0	2.00
Nicolet Bankshares	0	3	1	0	2.25

Sandy Spring Bancorp presently has a consensus target price of $29.33, suggesting a potential downside of 2.38%. Nicolet Bankshares has a consensus target price of $119.00, suggesting a potential upside of 1.74%. Given Nicolet Bankshares’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Nicolet Bankshares is more favorable than Sandy Spring Bancorp.

Summary

Nicolet Bankshares beats Sandy Spring Bancorp on 11 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Sandy Spring Bancorp

Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Sandy Spring Bank that provides commercial and retail banking, mortgage, private banking, and trust services to individuals and businesses in the United States. It offers financial products and services, including various loan and deposit products. Its loan products include commercial real estate loans, construction loans, and business loans; residential real estate loans; and consumer loans comprising home equity loans and lines, installment loans, and personal lines of credit. The company provides investment management, financial planning, and wealth management services. Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. was founded in 1868 and is headquartered in Olney, Maryland.

About Nicolet Bankshares

Nicolet Bankshares, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Nicolet National Bank that provides banking products and services for businesses and individuals in Wisconsin and Michigan. The company accepts checking, savings, and money market accounts; various certificates of deposit; and individual retirement accounts. It also offers commercial loans, including commercial, industrial, and business loans and lines of credit; commercial real estate loans; agricultural (AG) production and AG real estate loans; commercial real estate investment real estate loans; construction and land development loans; residential real estate loans, such as residential first lien and junior lien mortgages, home equity loans, lines of credit, and residential construction loans; and consumer loans. In addition, the company provides cash management, international banking, personal brokerage, safe deposit boxes, and trust and fiduciary services, as well as wealth management and retirement plan services. Further, it offers mortgage refinancing; online services, such as commercial, retail, and trust online banking; automated bill payment, mobile banking deposits and account access, and remote deposit capture services; and other services consisting of wire transfers, debit cards, credit cards, pre-paid gift cards, direct deposits, and official bank checks, as well as facilitates crop insurance products. The company was formerly known as Green Bay Financial Corporation and changed its name to Nicolet Bankshares, Inc. in March 2002. The company was incorporated in 2000 and is headquartered in Green Bay, Wisconsin.