Head to Head Contrast: Mechanics Bancorp (NASDAQ:MCHB) & Equity Bancshares (NYSE:EQBK)

Mechanics Bancorp (NASDAQ:MCHB) and Equity Bancshares (NYSE:EQBK) are both small-cap financial services companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, risk, profitability, earnings and valuation.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for Mechanics Bancorp and Equity Bancshares, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Mechanics Bancorp	0	1	0	0	2.00
Equity Bancshares	0	1	0	2	3.33

Mechanics Bancorp currently has a consensus price target of $14.50, suggesting a potential upside of 10.52%. Given Mechanics Bancorp’s higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Mechanics Bancorp is more favorable than Equity Bancshares.

Risk and Volatility

Mechanics Bancorp has a beta of 1.47, indicating that its stock price is 47% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Equity Bancshares has a beta of 0.89, indicating that its stock price is 11% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

74.7% of Mechanics Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 71.8% of Equity Bancshares shares are held by institutional investors. 4.6% of Mechanics Bancorp shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 6.6% of Equity Bancshares shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Mechanics Bancorp and Equity Bancshares”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Mechanics Bancorp	$586.19 million	0.42	-$144.34 million	($6.76)	-1.94
Equity Bancshares	$192.21 million	4.14	$62.62 million	$1.20	34.73

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

Profitability

This table compares Mechanics Bancorp and Equity Bancshares’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Mechanics Bancorp	-42.54%	-3.92%	-0.21%
Equity Bancshares	5.01%	12.13%	1.39%

Summary

Equity Bancshares beats Mechanics Bancorp on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Mechanics Bancorp

HomeStreet, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for HomeStreet Bank that provides commercial, mortgage, and consumer/retail banking services primarily in the Western United States. The company offers personal and business checking, savings accounts, interest-bearing negotiable order of withdrawal accounts, money market accounts, and time certificates of deposit; credit cards; insurance; and treasury management products and services. Its loan products include commercial business and agriculture loans, single family residential mortgages, consumer loans, commercial loans secured by residential and commercial real estate, and construction loans for residential and commercial real estate development, as well as consumer installment loans and permanent loans on commercial real estate and single-family residences. In addition, the company offers its products and services through bank branches, loan production offices, and ATMs, as well as through online, mobile, and telephone banking. As of December 31, 2021, it operated 60 full-service bank branches located in Washington state, Northern and Southern California, the Portland, Oregon, and Hawaii; and five primary stand-alone commercial lending centers in Central Washington, Oregon, Southern California, Idaho, and Utah. HomeStreet, Inc. serves small and medium sized businesses, real estate investors, professional firms, and individuals. The company was formerly known as Continental Mortgage and Loan Company. HomeStreet, Inc. was incorporated in 1921 and is headquartered in Seattle, Washington.

About Equity Bancshares

Equity Bancshares, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Equity Bank that provides a range of banking, mortgage banking, and financial services to individual and corporate customers. The company accepts various demand, savings, money market, and time deposits. Its loan products include commercial and industrial, commercial real estate-backed, commercial lines of credit, working capital, term, equipment financing, acquisition, expansion and development, borrowing base, real estate construction, homebuilder, agricultural, government guaranteed, and other loan products to national and regional companies, restaurant franchisees, hoteliers, real estate developers, manufacturing and industrial companies, agribusiness companies, and other businesses. The company’s loan products also comprise various consumer loans to individuals and professionals, including residential real estate loans, home equity loans and lines of credit, installment loans, unsecured and secured personal lines of credit, overdraft protection, and letters of credit. It also provides debit cards; online banking solutions, such as access to account balances, online transfers, online bill payment, and electronic delivery of customer statements; mobile banking solutions comprising remote check deposits with mobile bill pay; ATMs; and treasury management, wire transfer, automated clearing house, and stop payment services. In addition, the company offers cash management deposit products, such as lockbox, remote deposit capture, positive pay, reverse positive pay, account reconciliation services, zero balance accounts, and sweep accounts, as well as banking services through telephone, mail, and personal appointments. As of December 31, 2021, it operated a network of 69 branches in Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma. The company was founded in 2002 and is headquartered in Wichita, Kansas.