Comparing First Business Financial Services (NASDAQ:FBIZ) & Triumph Financial (NASDAQ:TFIN)

First Business Financial Services (NASDAQ:FBIZ) and Triumph Financial (NASDAQ:TFIN) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, institutional ownership, valuation, profitability, earnings, risk and analyst recommendations.

Volatility and Risk

First Business Financial Services has a beta of 0.83, meaning that its share price is 17% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Triumph Financial has a beta of 1.21, meaning that its share price is 21% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations for First Business Financial Services and Triumph Financial, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
First Business Financial Services	0	0	4	0	3.00
Triumph Financial	2	2	0	0	1.50

First Business Financial Services presently has a consensus price target of $50.75, indicating a potential upside of 23.63%. Triumph Financial has a consensus price target of $70.75, indicating a potential downside of 14.12%. Given First Business Financial Services’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe First Business Financial Services is more favorable than Triumph Financial.

Profitability

This table compares First Business Financial Services and Triumph Financial’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
First Business Financial Services	15.66%	13.87%	1.11%
Triumph Financial	6.05%	3.57%	0.53%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

60.1% of First Business Financial Services shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 91.1% of Triumph Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. 6.3% of First Business Financial Services shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 6.2% of Triumph Financial shares are owned 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.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares First Business Financial Services and Triumph Financial’s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
First Business Financial Services	$147.89 million	2.30	$37.03 million	$4.34	9.46
Triumph Financial	$416.26 million	4.62	$41.08 million	$1.31	62.89

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

Summary

First Business Financial Services beats Triumph Financial on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About First Business Financial Services

First Business Financial Services, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for First Business Bank that provides commercial banking products and services for small and medium-sized businesses, business owners, executives, professionals, and high net worth individuals in Wisconsin, Kansas, and Missouri. The company offers real estate lending, commercial and industrial lending, asset-based lending, accounts receivable financing, equipment financing loans and leases, floorplan financing, vendor financing, small business administration lending and servicing, treasury management solutions, and company retirement services. It also provides private wealth management for individuals, including creating and executing asset allocation strategies, trust and estate administration, financial planning, investment management, and access to brokerage and custody-only services. In addition, the company offers bank consulting consisting of investment portfolio administrative and asset liability management services, and commercial deposit accounts. The company was founded in 1909 and is headquartered in Madison, Wisconsin.

About Triumph Financial

Triumph Financial, Inc., a financial holding company, provides various payments, factoring, and banking services in the United States. It operates through Banking, Factoring, and Payments segments. The company offers deposit products, including checking, savings, money market and certificates of deposit; and loan products, such as commercial real estate, land, commercial construction and land development, residential real estate, commercial agriculture, and consumer loans, as well as commercial and industrial loans, equipment loans, asset-based loans, business loans for working capital and operational purposes, and liquid credit loans. It also provides electronic banking services, debit cards, insurance brokerage services, mortgage warehouse facilities, and transportation factoring services, as well as payments services offered through TriumphPay platform, a payments network for the over-the-road trucking industry. The company was formerly known as Triumph Bancorp, Inc. and changed its name to Triumph Financial Inc. in December 2022. Triumph Financial Inc. was incorporated in 2003 and is headquartered in Dallas, Texas.