Head-To-Head Review: BayFirst Financial (NASDAQ:BAFN) vs. TrustCo Bank Corp NY (NASDAQ:TRST)

BayFirst Financial (NASDAQ:BAFN) and TrustCo Bank Corp NY (NASDAQ:TRST) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, dividends, institutional ownership, earnings, valuation, risk and analyst recommendations.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares BayFirst Financial and TrustCo Bank Corp NY”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
BayFirst Financial	$24.02 million	6.76	-$401.21 million	($14.88)	-0.40
TrustCo Bank Corp NY	$201.07 million	4.79	$64.03 million	$3.76	15.03

TrustCo Bank Corp NY has higher revenue and earnings than BayFirst Financial. BayFirst Financial is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than TrustCo Bank Corp NY, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Dividends

BayFirst Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.32 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.3%. TrustCo Bank Corp NY pays an annual dividend of $1.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.8%. BayFirst Financial pays out -2.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. TrustCo Bank Corp NY pays out 42.6% 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. BayFirst Financial is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Volatility & Risk

BayFirst Financial has a beta of 0.52, indicating that its share price is 48% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, TrustCo Bank Corp NY has a beta of 0.65, indicating that its share price is 35% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations for BayFirst Financial and TrustCo Bank Corp NY, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
BayFirst Financial	1	0	0	0	1.00
TrustCo Bank Corp NY	0	0	1	0	3.00

Institutional & Insider Ownership

16.9% of BayFirst Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 68.6% of TrustCo Bank Corp NY shares are owned by institutional investors. 56.6% of BayFirst Financial shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 3.4% of TrustCo Bank Corp NY shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares BayFirst Financial and TrustCo Bank Corp NY’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
BayFirst Financial	N/A	N/A	N/A
TrustCo Bank Corp NY	N/A	N/A	N/A

Summary

TrustCo Bank Corp NY beats BayFirst Financial on 8 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About TrustCo Bank Corp NY

TrustCo Bank Corp NY operates as the holding company for Trustco Bank, a federal savings bank that provides personal and business banking services to individuals and businesses. The company accepts deposits; and offers loans and investments. It also operates as a real estate investment trust that acquires, holds, and manages real estate mortgage assets, including residential mortgage loans and mortgage-backed securities. In addition, the company serves as the executor of estates and trustee of personal trusts; provides asset and wealth management, estate planning and related advice, and custodial services; and acts as trustee for various types of employee benefit plans, and corporate pension and profit-sharing trusts. It operates through banking offices in Albany, Columbia, Dutchess, Greene, Montgomery, Orange, Putnam, Rensselaer, Rockland, Saratoga, Schenectady, Schoharie, Ulster, Warren, Washington, and Westchester counties of New York; Brevard, Charlotte, Flagler, Hillsborough, Indian River, Lake, Manatee, Martin, Orange, Osceola, Palm Beach, Polk, Sarasota, Seminole, and Volusia counties in Florida; Bennington County in Vermont; Berkshire County in Massachusetts; and Bergen County in New Jersey, as well as automatic teller machines. The company was founded in 1902 and is headquartered in Glenville, New York.