Head-To-Head Survey: Westamerica Bancorporation (NASDAQ:WABC) and Old Point Financial (NASDAQ:OPOF)

Westamerica Bancorporation (NASDAQ:WABC) and Old Point Financial (NASDAQ:OPOF) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, dividends, risk, earnings, analyst recommendations, valuation and institutional ownership.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for Westamerica Bancorporation and Old Point Financial, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Westamerica Bancorporation	0	3	0	0	2.00
Old Point Financial	0	0	0	0	N/A

Westamerica Bancorporation currently has a consensus price target of $57.00, suggesting a potential upside of 15.90%. Given Westamerica Bancorporation’s higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Westamerica Bancorporation is more favorable than Old Point Financial.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Westamerica Bancorporation and Old Point Financial’s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Westamerica Bancorporation	$327.54 million	4.01	$161.77 million	$5.92	8.31
Old Point Financial	$60.59 million	1.51	$7.73 million	$1.26	14.29

Westamerica Bancorporation has higher revenue and earnings than Old Point Financial. Westamerica Bancorporation is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Old Point Financial, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

81.9% of Westamerica Bancorporation shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 33.4% of Old Point Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. 4.4% of Westamerica Bancorporation shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 21.1% of Old Point Financial shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility and Risk

Westamerica Bancorporation has a beta of 0.55, meaning that its stock price is 45% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Old Point Financial has a beta of 0.29, meaning that its stock price is 71% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Westamerica Bancorporation and Old Point Financial’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Westamerica Bancorporation	47.12%	20.17%	2.38%
Old Point Financial	8.41%	6.69%	0.49%

Dividends

Westamerica Bancorporation pays an annual dividend of $1.76 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.6%. Old Point Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.56 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.1%. Westamerica Bancorporation pays out 29.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Old Point Financial pays out 44.4% 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. Westamerica Bancorporation has raised its dividend for 32 consecutive years and Old Point Financial has raised its dividend for 3 consecutive years. Westamerica Bancorporation is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Summary

Westamerica Bancorporation beats Old Point Financial on 13 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Westamerica Bancorporation

Westamerica Bancorporation operates as a bank holding company for the Westamerica Bank that provides various banking products and services to individual and commercial customers. The company accepts various deposit products, including retail savings and checking accounts, as well as certificates of deposit. Its loan portfolio includes commercial, commercial and residential real estate, real estate construction, and consumer installment loans, as well as indirect automobile loans. The company was formerly known as Independent Bankshares Corporation and changed its name to Westamerica Bancorporation in 1983. The company was founded in 1884 and is headquartered in San Rafael, California.

About Old Point Financial

Old Point Financial Corporation operates as the bank holding company for The Old Point National Bank of Phoebus that provides consumer, mortgage, and business banking services for individual and commercial customers in Virginia. It offers deposit products, including interest-bearing transaction accounts, money market deposit accounts, savings accounts, time deposits, and demand deposits. The company also provides real estate construction, commercial, and mortgage loans, such as residential 1-4 family mortgages, second mortgages, and equity lines of credit; and other loans. In addition, it offers retirement planning, estate planning, financial planning, estate and trust administration, retirement plan administration, tax, and investment management services; and insurance products, wealth management, and cash management services. Old Point Financial Corporation was founded in 1922 and is headquartered in Hampton, Virginia.