Head-To-Head Survey: Hanmi Financial (NASDAQ:HAFC) vs. Pacific Valley Bancorp (OTCMKTS:PVBK)

Pacific Valley Bancorp (OTCMKTS:PVBK) and Hanmi Financial (NASDAQ:HAFC) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, dividends, profitability, valuation and risk.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

2.8% of Pacific Valley Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 88.7% of Hanmi Financial shares are held by institutional investors. 1.4% of Hanmi Financial shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Pacific Valley Bancorp and Hanmi Financial’s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Pacific Valley Bancorp	$27.51 million	1.57	$4.85 million	$0.99	8.88
Hanmi Financial	$403.51 million	1.19	$80.04 million	$2.62	6.08

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

Volatility & Risk

Pacific Valley Bancorp has a beta of 0.32, suggesting that its share price is 68% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Hanmi Financial has a beta of 0.94, suggesting that its share price is 6% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Pacific Valley Bancorp and Hanmi Financial, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Pacific Valley Bancorp	0	0	0	0	N/A
Hanmi Financial	0	2	0	0	2.00

Hanmi Financial has a consensus price target of $18.50, suggesting a potential upside of 16.21%. Given Hanmi Financial’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Hanmi Financial is more favorable than Pacific Valley Bancorp.

Profitability

This table compares Pacific Valley Bancorp and Hanmi Financial’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Pacific Valley Bancorp	17.62%	N/A	N/A
Hanmi Financial	19.84%	11.88%	1.08%

Summary

Hanmi Financial beats Pacific Valley Bancorp on 10 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Pacific Valley Bancorp

Pacific Valley Bancorp operates as the bank holding company for Pacific Valley Bank that provides various banking products and services in the United States. The company offers personal and business banking, including checking accounts, savings and money market accounts, and certificates of deposit; and online solutions, such as online and mobile banking, bill pay, remote deposit capture, positive pay, e-statements, and order checks. It also provides commercial or agriculture lines of credit, commercial or agriculture terms loans, commercial constructions loans, agriculture production lending, and government guaranteed loan programs; and debit card, incoming wire instructions, ATM locator, fraud prevention, identity theft, and FDIC insurance estimator services. The company was founded in 2004 and is headquartered in Salinas, California.

About Hanmi Financial

Hanmi Financial Corporation operates as the holding company for Hanmi Bank that provides business banking products and services in the United States. It offers various deposit products, including noninterest-bearing checking accounts, savings accounts, negotiable order of withdrawal accounts, money market accounts, and certificates of deposit. The company also provides real estate loans, such as commercial property, construction, and residential property loans; and commercial and industrial loans, such as commercial term loans and commercial lines of credit; and international finance and trade services and products, such as letters of credit, and import and export financing. In addition, it offers small business administration loans for business purposes, which comprise owner-occupied commercial real estate, business acquisitions, start-ups, franchise financing, working capital, improvements and renovations, inventory and equipment, and debt-refinancing, as well as equipment lease financing. The company was founded in 1982 and is headquartered in Los Angeles, California.