Reviewing PCB Bancorp (NASDAQ:PCB) and California BanCorp (NASDAQ:BCAL)

California BanCorp (NASDAQ:BCAL) and PCB Bancorp (NASDAQ:PCB) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, earnings, institutional ownership, risk, dividends, analyst recommendations and profitability.

Volatility & Risk

California BanCorp has a beta of 1.19, indicating that its share price is 19% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, PCB Bancorp has a beta of 0.58, indicating that its share price is 42% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares California BanCorp and PCB Bancorp”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
California BanCorp	$237.07 million	2.58	$63.06 million	$1.93	9.82
PCB Bancorp	$209.37 million	1.57	$37.45 million	$2.57	8.98

California BanCorp has higher revenue and earnings than PCB Bancorp. PCB Bancorp is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than California BanCorp, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

55.4% of California BanCorp shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 33.0% of PCB Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. 14.8% of California BanCorp shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 25.0% of PCB Bancorp shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for California BanCorp and PCB Bancorp, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
California BanCorp	1	0	3	1	2.80
PCB Bancorp	0	2	1	1	2.75

California BanCorp presently has a consensus target price of $20.50, indicating a potential upside of 8.12%. PCB Bancorp has a consensus target price of $24.50, indicating a potential upside of 6.20%. Given California BanCorp’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly believe California BanCorp is more favorable than PCB Bancorp.

Dividends

California BanCorp pays an annual dividend of $0.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.1%. PCB Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.88 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.8%. California BanCorp pays out 20.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. PCB Bancorp pays out 34.2% 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. PCB Bancorp has raised its dividend for 7 consecutive years. PCB Bancorp is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Profitability

This table compares California BanCorp and PCB Bancorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
California BanCorp	26.60%	11.51%	1.57%
PCB Bancorp	17.89%	12.15%	1.14%

Summary

California BanCorp beats PCB Bancorp on 12 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About California BanCorp

Southern California Bancorp operates as the holding company for Bank of Southern California, N.A. that provides various financial products to individuals, professionals, and small-to medium-sized businesses. The company offers checking, personal and business savings, and money market accounts, as well as certificates of deposit. It also provides home equity lines of credit, business loans and lines of credit, commercial real estate and construction loans, small business administration loans, letters of credit, and personal and business credit cards. In addition, the company provides cash vault, sweep accounts, and remote deposit capture services; online and mobile banking services; courier service; lockbox services; and merchant services. It operates branches in San Diego, Orange, Ventura, Los Angeles, and Riverside counties, as well as the Inland Empire. The company was founded in 2001 and is headquartered in San Diego, California.

About PCB Bancorp

PCB Bancorp operates as the bank holding company for PCB Bank that provides various banking products and services to small to medium-sized businesses, individuals, and professionals in Southern California. The company offers demand, savings, money market, and time deposits, as well as certificates of deposit; and trade finance, remote deposit capture, courier deposit services, positive pay services, zero balance accounts, and sweep accounts. It also provides real estate loans, including commercial and residential, Small Business Administration (SBA) property, and construction loans; commercial and industrial loans, such as commercial term and lines of credit, SBA commercial term, and SBA Paycheck Protection Program loans; and consumer loans comprising residential mortgage; and automobile loans, unsecured lines of credit, and term loans. In addition, the company offers access to account balances, online transfers, and online bill payment and electronic delivery of customer statements; and mobile banking solutions that include remote check deposit and mobile bill pay. Further, it provides automated teller machines; and banking by telephone, mail, personal appointment, debit cards, direct deposit, and cashier's checks, as well as treasury management, wire transfer, and automated clearing house services. The company operates through a network of full-service branches in Los Angeles and Orange counties, California; Carrollton and Dallas, Texas; and Englewood Cliffs and Palisade Park, New Jersey, and Bayside, New York. It also operates loan production offices in Los Angeles and Orange Counties, California; Annandale, Virginia; Atlanta, Georgia; Bellevue, Washington; Aurora, Colorado; and Carrollton, Texas. The company was formerly known as Pacific City Financial Corporation and changed its name to PCB Bancorp in July 2019. PCB Bancorp was founded in 2003 and is headquartered in Los Angeles, California.