First National (FXNC) Competitors

Atlanticus (NASDAQ:ATLC) and First National (NASDAQ:FXNC) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, media sentiment, community ranking, profitability, earnings, dividends and risk.

Do analysts prefer ATLC or FXNC?

Atlanticus currently has a consensus target price of $57.20, suggesting a potential downside of 2.41%. First National has a consensus target price of $21.50, suggesting a potential downside of 10.42%. Given Atlanticus' stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Atlanticus is more favorable than First National.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Atlanticus	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00
First National	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50

Which has more risk and volatility, ATLC or FXNC?

Atlanticus has a beta of 2.05, indicating that its stock price is 105% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, First National has a beta of 0.54, indicating that its stock price is 46% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has preferable earnings & valuation, ATLC or FXNC?

Atlanticus has higher revenue and earnings than First National. Atlanticus is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than First National, 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
Atlanticus	$276.49M	3.12	$102.85M	$4.45	13.17
First National	$56.42M	3.82	$9.62M	$1.12	21.43

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer ATLC or FXNC?

Atlanticus received 132 more outperform votes than First National when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 65.22% of users gave Atlanticus an outperform vote while only 42.86% of users gave First National an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Atlanticus	Outperform Votes 135 65.22%	Underperform Votes 72 34.78%
First National	Outperform Votes 3 42.86%	Underperform Votes 4 57.14%

Is ATLC or FXNC more profitable?

First National has a net margin of 8.91% compared to Atlanticus' net margin of 8.39%. Atlanticus' return on equity of 25.14% beat First National's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Atlanticus	8.39%	25.14%	3.74%
First National	8.91%	6.52%	0.54%

Do insiders and institutionals believe in ATLC or FXNC?

14.1% of Atlanticus shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 33.9% of First National shares are held by institutional investors. 51.8% of Atlanticus shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 16.5% of First National shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Does the media prefer ATLC or FXNC?

In the previous week, Atlanticus had 1 more articles in the media than First National. MarketBeat recorded 3 mentions for Atlanticus and 2 mentions for First National. Atlanticus' average media sentiment score of 1.07 beat First National's score of 0.95 indicating that Atlanticus is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Atlanticus	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
First National	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Summary

Atlanticus beats First National on 15 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.