First Community (FCCO) Competitors

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

Is EQBK or FCCO a better dividend stock?

Equity Bancshares pays an annual dividend of $0.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.6%. First Community pays an annual dividend of $0.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.5%. Equity Bancshares pays out 15.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. First Community pays out 30.3% 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.

Do analysts prefer EQBK or FCCO?

Equity Bancshares presently has a consensus price target of $46.60, indicating a potential upside of 22.28%. First Community has a consensus price target of $29.67, indicating a potential upside of 24.65%. Given First Community's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe First Community is more favorable than Equity Bancshares.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Equity Bancshares	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50
First Community	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.33

Do insiders and institutionals believe in EQBK or FCCO?

71.8% of Equity Bancshares shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 61.3% of First Community shares are held by institutional investors. 6.6% of Equity Bancshares shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 5.9% of First Community shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Does the media refer more to EQBK or FCCO?

In the previous week, First Community had 5 more articles in the media than Equity Bancshares. MarketBeat recorded 7 mentions for First Community and 2 mentions for Equity Bancshares. First Community's average media sentiment score of 1.16 beat Equity Bancshares' score of 1.07 indicating that First Community is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

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

Which has more risk & volatility, EQBK or FCCO?

Equity Bancshares has a beta of 0.73, indicating that its share price is 27% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, First Community has a beta of 0.31, indicating that its share price is 69% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has preferable valuation & earnings, EQBK or FCCO?

Equity Bancshares has higher revenue and earnings than First Community. Equity Bancshares is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than First Community, 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
Equity Bancshares	$225.03M	2.97	$62.62M	$3.93	9.70
First Community	$65.42M	2.79	$13.95M	$1.98	12.02

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in EQBK or FCCO?

First Community received 35 more outperform votes than Equity Bancshares when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 48.14% of users gave Equity Bancshares an outperform vote while only 44.81% of users gave First Community an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Equity Bancshares	Outperform Votes 142 48.14%	Underperform Votes 153 51.86%
First Community	Outperform Votes 177 44.81%	Underperform Votes 218 55.19%

Is EQBK or FCCO more profitable?

Equity Bancshares has a net margin of 18.66% compared to First Community's net margin of 13.49%. Equity Bancshares' return on equity of 14.64% beat First Community's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Equity Bancshares	18.66%	14.64%	1.31%
First Community	13.49%	10.14%	0.73%

Summary

Equity Bancshares beats First Community on 13 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.