Critical Comparison: Bay Banks of Virginia (OTCMKTS:BAYK) vs. Republic Bancorp (NASDAQ:RBCAA)

Bay Banks of Virginia (OTCMKTS:BAYK) and Republic Bancorp (NASDAQ:RBCAA) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, analyst recommendations, valuation, institutional ownership, risk, earnings and dividends.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

24.4% of Republic Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. 7.6% of Bay Banks of Virginia shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 56.6% of Republic Bancorp shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Bay Banks of Virginia and Republic Bancorp, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Bay Banks of Virginia	0	0	0	0	0.00
Republic Bancorp	0	1	0	0	2.00

Republic Bancorp has a consensus target price of $80.00, suggesting a potential upside of 17.97%. Given Republic Bancorp’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Republic Bancorp is more favorable than Bay Banks of Virginia.

Profitability

This table compares Bay Banks of Virginia and Republic Bancorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Bay Banks of Virginia	N/A	N/A	N/A
Republic Bancorp	20.65%	10.79%	1.52%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Bay Banks of Virginia and Republic Bancorp”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Bay Banks of Virginia	$55.38 million	2.27	$7.06 million	N/A	N/A
Republic Bancorp	$427.52 million	3.09	$90.37 million	$5.26	12.89

Republic Bancorp has higher revenue and earnings than Bay Banks of Virginia.

Summary

Republic Bancorp beats Bay Banks of Virginia on 10 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Bay Banks of Virginia

Bay Banks of Virginia, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides various banking products and services to businesses, professionals, and consumers in Virginia. The company accepts checking accounts, savings accounts, money market accounts, cash management accounts, certificates of deposit, and individual retirement accounts. Its loan products include commercial and industrial loans, such as small business loans, asset based loans, and other secured and unsecured loans and lines of credit; purchased loans; residential and commercial mortgages; home equity loans; consumer installment loans; and consumer loans comprising automobile and boat financing, home improvement loans, and unsecured personal loans. The company also provides credit cards; and insurance, online banking, telephone banking, mobile banking, analysis checking, cash management deposit, wire, direct deposit payroll, lockbox, positive pay, and remote deposit services, as well as a line of commercial lending options. In addition, it offers management services, including estate planning and settlement, as well as trust administration, investment, and wealth management services; and revocable and irrevocable living trusts, testamentary trusts, custodial accounts, investment planning, brokerage services, investment managed accounts, and managed and self-directed rollover individual retirement accounts for personal and corporate trusts. As of March 9, 2020, the company operated 17 banking offices located throughout greater Richmond region, the Northern Neck region, Middlesex County, and the Hampton Roads region. Bay Banks of Virginia, Inc. was founded in 1930 and is headquartered in Richmond, Virginia.

About Republic Bancorp

Republic Bancorp, Inc. operates as a bank holding company for Republic Bank & Trust Company that provides various banking products and services in the United States. It operates in six segments: Traditional Banking, Warehouse, Mortgage Banking, Tax Refund Solutions, Republic Payment Solutions, and Republic Credit Solutions. The company offers demand, money market accounts, savings, individual retirement accounts, time, brokered, and other certificates of deposit; and retail and commercial mortgage, construction and land development, consumer, aircraft, and marine loans. It also provides credit cards; title insurance and other financial products and services; and private banking, lockbox processing, remote deposit capture, business online banking, account reconciliation, automated clearing house processing, and internet and mobile banking services. In addition, it offers short-term and revolving credit facilities to mortgage bankers through mortgage warehouse lines of credit; mortgage banking; tax refund solutions, which facilitate the receipt and payment of federal and state tax refund products through third-party tax preparers and tax-preparation software providers; payments-related products and services to consumers through third party service providers; and consumer credit products. The company offers its services through full-services banking centers in Kentucky, Indiana, Florida, Ohio, and Tennessee. Republic Bancorp, Inc. was incorporated in 1974 and is headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky.