Comparing Bay Banks of Virginia (OTCMKTS:BAYK) and Equity Bancshares (NASDAQ:EQBK)

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for Equity Bancshares and Bay Banks of Virginia, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Equity Bancshares	0	3	3	0	2.50
Bay Banks of Virginia	0	0	0	0	0.00

Equity Bancshares presently has a consensus price target of $50.40, suggesting a potential upside of 12.40%. Given Equity Bancshares’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Equity Bancshares is more favorable than Bay Banks of Virginia.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Equity Bancshares and Bay Banks of Virginia”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Equity Bancshares	$192.21 million	4.45	$62.62 million	$1.20	37.37
Bay Banks of Virginia	$55.38 million	2.27	$7.06 million	N/A	N/A

Equity Bancshares has higher revenue and earnings than Bay Banks of Virginia.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

71.8% of Equity Bancshares shares are held by institutional investors. 6.6% of Equity Bancshares shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 7.6% of Bay Banks of Virginia shares are held by company 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.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Equity Bancshares	18.66%	14.64%	1.31%
Bay Banks of Virginia	N/A	N/A	N/A

Summary

Equity Bancshares beats Bay Banks of Virginia on 10 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

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, commercial lines of credit, working capital, term, equipment and aircraft financing, acquisition, expansion and development, borrowing base, real estate construction, homebuilder, agricultural, government guaranteed, and other loan products. The company's loan products also comprise 1 4 family residential mortgages, agriculture, consumer, residential real estate mortgage, and agricultural real estate and production loans. It also provides debit and credit cards; insurance brokerage; trust and wealth management; 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. It operates a network of branches in Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma. Equity Bancshares, Inc. was incorporated in 2002 and is headquartered in Wichita, Kansas.

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.