Bay Commercial Bank (NASDAQ:BCML) and WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) Critical Survey

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) and Bay Commercial Bank (NASDAQ:BCML) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, analyst recommendations, dividends, earnings, risk and profitability.

Volatility and Risk

WaFd has a beta of 0.9, indicating that its share price is 10% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Bay Commercial Bank has a beta of 0.32, indicating that its share price is 68% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

83.7% of WaFd shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 66.2% of Bay Commercial Bank shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.5% of WaFd shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.9% of Bay Commercial Bank shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares WaFd and Bay Commercial Bank”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
WaFd	$1.42 billion	1.53	$255.87 million	$3.21	9.12
Bay Commercial Bank	$141.48 million	2.41	$23.93 million	$0.84	37.12

WaFd has higher revenue and earnings than Bay Commercial Bank. WaFd is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Bay Commercial Bank, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Dividends

WaFd pays an annual dividend of $1.08 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.7%. Bay Commercial Bank pays an annual dividend of $1.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.8%. WaFd pays out 33.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Bay Commercial Bank pays out 142.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. WaFd has increased its dividend for 2 consecutive years and Bay Commercial Bank has increased its dividend for 3 consecutive years. Bay Commercial Bank is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Profitability

This table compares WaFd and Bay Commercial Bank’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
WaFd	18.04%	9.37%	0.93%
Bay Commercial Bank	6.53%	7.54%	0.98%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for WaFd and Bay Commercial Bank, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
WaFd	0	5	0	0	2.00
Bay Commercial Bank	0	3	1	1	2.60

WaFd currently has a consensus target price of $32.50, suggesting a potential upside of 11.07%. Bay Commercial Bank has a consensus target price of $34.00, suggesting a potential upside of 9.03%. Given WaFd’s higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly believe WaFd is more favorable than Bay Commercial Bank.

About WaFd

WaFd, Inc. is the bank holding company for WaFd Bank, a regional financial institution serving individuals, businesses and organizations. The bank offers deposit accounts, including checking and savings, as well as consumer and commercial lending, mortgage services and cash management. Its lending activities include residential mortgages and loans to businesses, including commercial real estate financing. WaFd Bank operates across the western United States, with a presence in states including Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico and Texas.

About Bay Commercial Bank

Bay Commercial Bank is a community-focused commercial bank associated with BayCom Corp. The institution provides banking services to businesses, professionals and individuals, with an emphasis on relationship-based commercial banking. Its products and services include commercial and real estate lending, construction and small-business loans, business checking and savings accounts, personal deposit accounts, cash-management services, online banking and other traditional financial services. The bank originated in California and has served businesses and communities in the western United States through its branch network and commercial banking operations.