Bank First National (NASDAQ:BFC) versus American Bank (OTCMKTS:AMBK) Critical Review

Bank First National (NASDAQ:BFC) and American Bank (OTCMKTS:AMBK) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, profitability, earnings, valuation, risk, dividends and analyst recommendations.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Bank First National and American Bank”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Bank First National	$243.93 million	6.55	$71.50 million	$7.23	19.73
American Bank	$59.94 million	1.98	$13.54 million	$2.33	7.73

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

Institutional & Insider Ownership

30.0% of Bank First National shares are owned by institutional investors. 4.1% of Bank First National 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.

Dividends

Bank First National pays an annual dividend of $2.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.4%. American Bank pays an annual dividend of $0.64 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.6%. Bank First National pays out 27.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. American Bank pays out 27.5% 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. Bank First National has raised its dividend for 10 consecutive years. American Bank is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Profitability

This table compares Bank First National and American Bank’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Bank First National	29.31%	11.61%	1.65%
American Bank	24.26%	N/A	N/A

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Bank First National and American Bank, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Bank First National	0	2	3	0	2.60
American Bank	0	0	0	0	0.00

Bank First National presently has a consensus target price of $150.00, indicating a potential upside of 5.15%. Given Bank First National’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe Bank First National is more favorable than American Bank.

Risk & Volatility

Bank First National has a beta of 0.4, indicating that its stock price is 60% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, American Bank has a beta of -0.02, indicating that its stock price is 102% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Bank First National beats American Bank on 15 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Bank First National

Bank First Corporation operates as a holding company for Bank First, N.A. that provides consumer and commercial financial services to businesses, professionals, consumers, associations, individuals, and governmental authorities in Wisconsin. It offers checking, savings, money market, cash management, retirement, and health savings accounts; other time deposits; certificates of deposit; and residential mortgage products. The company's loan products include real estate loans, including commercial real estate, residential mortgage, and home equity loans; commercial and industrial loans for working capital, accounts receivable, inventory financing, and other business purposes; construction and development loans; residential 1-4 family loans; and consumer loans for personal and household purposes, including secured and unsecured installment loans, and revolving lines of credit. It also provides credit cards; ATM processing; insurance; data processing and other information technology; investment and safekeeping; treasury management; and online, telephone, and mobile banking services. The company was formerly known as Bank First National Corporation and changed its name to Bank First Corporation in June 2019. Bank First Corporation was founded in 1894 and is headquartered in Manitowoc, Wisconsin.

About American Bank

American Bank Incorporated operates as the bank holding company for American Bank that provides various banking products and services to consumer, business, institutional, and governmental customers. It accepts a range of interest-bearing checking and money market accounts, savings accounts, certificates of deposit, and individual retirement accounts. The company also offers commercial, industrial, and other loans; commercial mortgage loans; commercial construction loans; residential mortgage loans; and consumer loans, including personal term loans, personal credit lines, automobile loans, home equity loans, and home equity lines of credit and loans. In addition, it provides online or mobile banking, automated teller machine, safe deposit box rental, and wire transfer services, as well as sells checks and checkbooks, and purchases investment securities. The company operates an office located in Allentown, Pennsylvania; and a loan production office in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania. The company was founded in 1997 and is based in Allentown, Pennsylvania.