Reviewing Chesapeake Financial Shares (OTCMKTS:CPKF) & BayFirst Financial (NASDAQ:BAFN)

Chesapeake Financial Shares (OTCMKTS:CPKF) and BayFirst Financial (NASDAQ:BAFN) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, risk, valuation, dividends, earnings, profitability and institutional ownership.

Volatility and Risk

Chesapeake Financial Shares has a beta of 0.25, indicating that its share price is 75% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, BayFirst Financial has a beta of 0.63, indicating that its share price is 37% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Chesapeake Financial Shares and BayFirst Financial”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Chesapeake Financial Shares	$102.27 million	1.59	$10.00 million	$4.22	8.20
BayFirst Financial	$104.19 million	0.25	-$22.94 million	($7.22)	-0.87

Chesapeake Financial Shares has higher earnings, but lower revenue than BayFirst Financial. BayFirst Financial is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Chesapeake Financial Shares, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

3.7% of Chesapeake Financial Shares shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 16.9% of BayFirst Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. 39.5% of Chesapeake Financial Shares shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 18.8% of BayFirst Financial shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Chesapeake Financial Shares and BayFirst Financial’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Chesapeake Financial Shares	17.24%	15.88%	1.20%
BayFirst Financial	-29.20%	-37.66%	-2.21%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Chesapeake Financial Shares and BayFirst Financial, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Chesapeake Financial Shares	0	0	0	0	0.00
BayFirst Financial	1	0	0	0	1.00

Summary

Chesapeake Financial Shares beats BayFirst Financial on 8 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Chesapeake Financial Shares

Chesapeake Financial Shares, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Chesapeake Bank that provides various banking products and services for individuals and businesses in the United States. The company accepts interest and noninterest checking, savings, and money market accounts; and variable-rate and fixed-term money market accounts, as well as certificates of deposit. It also offers mortgage, and single-family residential and residential construction loans; commercial loans, which include owner-occupied commercial development, retail, builders/contractors, medical, service and professional, hospitality, nonprofits, marine industry, and agricultural and seafood loans; and consumer and other loans. In addition, the company provides merchant processing, accounts receivable financing, wealth management and trust, and mortgage banking services, as well as cash management services. The company was founded in 1900 and is based in Kilmarnock, Virginia.

About BayFirst Financial

BayFirst Financial Corp. operates as the bank holding company for BayFirst National Bank that provides community banking services for businesses and individuals. The company offers checking, savings, NOW, and money market deposit accounts, as well as certificates of deposit and individual retirement account; and safety deposit boxes. It also provides commercial real estate mortgages; construction and development, working capital, and business loans; auto, boat, and recreational vehicle loans; and residential mortgages, personal lines of credit, and home equity lines of credit. In addition, the company offers mobile and online banking, treasury management, wire transfers, cash management, merchant processing, remote deposit capture, night depositor, online bill payment, courier, retail investment, ACH originations, and other services. It operates full-service banking centers in St. Petersburg, Seminole, Pinellas Park, Clearwater, Sarasota, Tampa, Belleair Bluffs, and Bradenton, Florida. The company was formerly known as First Home Bancorp, Inc. and changed its name to BayFirst Financial Corp. in May 2021. BayFirst Financial Corp. was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in St. Petersburg, Florida.