Financial Contrast: BNC Bancorp (BNCN) and F.N.B. Corporation (FNB)

BNC Bancorp (NASDAQ: BNCN) and F.N.B. Corporation (NYSE:FNB) are both financials companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability, institutional ownership, risk, dividends and earnings.

Risk & Volatility

BNC Bancorp has a beta of 1, suggesting that its stock price has a similar volatility profile to the S&P 500.Comparatively, F.N.B. Corporation has a beta of 0.94, suggesting that its stock price is 6% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

BNC Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.05 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.1%. F.N.B. Corporation pays an annual dividend of $0.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.8%. BNC Bancorp pays out 3.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. F.N.B. Corporation pays out 61.5% 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.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

62.6% of BNC Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 76.7% of F.N.B. Corporation shares are owned by institutional investors. 6.2% of BNC Bancorp shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.2% of F.N.B. Corporation shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares BNC Bancorp and F.N.B. Corporation’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
BNC Bancorp	19.39%	6.37%	0.77%
F.N.B. Corporation	19.43%	6.97%	0.90%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations for BNC Bancorp and F.N.B. Corporation, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
BNC Bancorp	0	3	1	0	2.25
F.N.B. Corporation	0	3	7	1	2.82

BNC Bancorp currently has a consensus target price of $33.88, suggesting a potential downside of 3.63%. F.N.B. Corporation has a consensus target price of $17.72, suggesting a potential upside of 38.67%. Given F.N.B. Corporation’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe F.N.B. Corporation is more favorable than BNC Bancorp.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares BNC Bancorp and F.N.B. Corporation’s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	EBITDA	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
BNC Bancorp	N/A	N/A	N/A	$1.32	26.63
F.N.B. Corporation	$878.51 million	4.67	$250.58 million	$0.78	16.38

F.N.B. Corporation has higher revenue and earnings than BNC Bancorp. F.N.B. Corporation is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than BNC Bancorp, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

F.N.B. Corporation beats BNC Bancorp on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About BNC Bancorp

BNC Bancorp is a one-bank holding company for Bank of North Carolina (the Bank). The Bank is a full service commercial bank, which provides a range of banking services tailored to the particular banking needs of the communities it serves. It is engaged in the business of attracting deposits from the general public and using those deposits, together with other funding from its lines of credit, to make commercial and consumer loans. It provides banking services to individuals and small to medium-sized local businesses. It also offers a range of banking services, including traditional products, such as checking and savings accounts. Its other banking services include Mortgage Lending, Small Business Administration Lending, Wealth Management Services and Insurance Services. It offers an array of residential mortgage products, including long-term fixed rate and variable rate loans. Its Wealth Management Services include financial planning, wealth management, and trust and estate planning.

About F.N.B. Corporation

F.N.B. Corporation is a financial holding company. The Company operates through four segments: Community Banking, Wealth Management, Insurance and Consumer Finance. Its Community Banking segment consists of First National Bank of Pennsylvania (FNBPA), which offers services, including commercial and individual demand, savings and time deposit accounts and commercial, mortgage and individual installment loans. It operates its Community Banking business through a network of over 290 branches in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Maryland and West Virginia. Its Wealth Management segment delivers wealth management services to individuals, corporations and retirement funds, as well as existing customers of Community Banking. The Company’s Insurance segment operates principally through First National Insurance Agency, LLC (FNIA), which is a subsidiary of the Corporation. Its Consumer Finance segment operates through its subsidiary, Regency Finance Company. It also operates other non-banking subsidiaries.