First Community Bankshares (FCBC) Competitors

First Community Bankshares (NASDAQ:FCBC) and Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their media sentiment, institutional ownership, profitability, analyst recommendations, community ranking, risk, dividends, earnings and valuation.

Is FCBC or BFST a better dividend stock?

First Community Bankshares pays an annual dividend of $1.24 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.7%. Business First Bancshares pays an annual dividend of $0.56 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.0%. First Community Bankshares pays out 44.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Business First Bancshares pays out 24.1% 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. First Community Bankshares has raised its dividend for 13 consecutive years. First Community Bankshares is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Which has preferable earnings and valuation, FCBC or BFST?

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

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
First Community Bankshares	$174.62M	4.79	$48.02M	$2.79	16.38
Business First Bancshares	$389.97M	2.14	$71.04M	$2.32	12.16

Do analysts recommend FCBC or BFST?

First Community Bankshares currently has a consensus target price of $38.00, indicating a potential downside of 16.85%. Business First Bancshares has a consensus target price of $28.75, indicating a potential upside of 1.95%. Given Business First Bancshares' stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Business First Bancshares is more favorable than First Community Bankshares.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
First Community Bankshares	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00
Business First Bancshares	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50

Do institutionals and insiders have more ownership in FCBC or BFST?

35.0% of First Community Bankshares shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 47.4% of Business First Bancshares shares are held by institutional investors. 3.7% of First Community Bankshares shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 6.5% of Business First Bancshares shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Is FCBC or BFST more profitable?

First Community Bankshares has a net margin of 27.18% compared to Business First Bancshares' net margin of 14.92%. Business First Bancshares' return on equity of 11.57% beat First Community Bankshares' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
First Community Bankshares	27.18%	10.70%	1.68%
Business First Bancshares	14.92%	11.57%	1.02%

Which has more volatility & risk, FCBC or BFST?

First Community Bankshares has a beta of 0.52, suggesting that its stock price is 48% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Business First Bancshares has a beta of 0.97, suggesting that its stock price is 3% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media refer more to FCBC or BFST?

In the previous week, First Community Bankshares and First Community Bankshares both had 7 articles in the media. First Community Bankshares' average media sentiment score of 0.63 beat Business First Bancshares' score of 0.23 indicating that First Community Bankshares is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
First Community Bankshares	3 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Business First Bancshares	2 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer FCBC or BFST?

First Community Bankshares received 111 more outperform votes than Business First Bancshares when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 58.29% of users gave First Community Bankshares an outperform vote while only 57.66% of users gave Business First Bancshares an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
First Community Bankshares	Outperform Votes 239 58.29%	Underperform Votes 171 41.71%
Business First Bancshares	Outperform Votes 128 57.66%	Underperform Votes 94 42.34%

Summary

First Community Bankshares and Business First Bancshares tied by winning 10 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.